What does a plant maintenance supervisor do?
Plant maintenance supervisors must have a high school diploma or GED at minimum, though some employers will prefer candidates with an associate degree or bachelor's degree. This position requires preventative maintenance skills, knowledge of plant equipment, and understanding of safety procedures. Plant maintenance supervisors supervise a team and maintain the operations of plant systems.
Plant maintenance supervisor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real plant maintenance supervisor resumes:
- Maintain OEE on all equipment to achieve run performance goals and to produce 500MM pounds of finish product a year.
- Supervise electricians, HVAC mechanics and plumbers.
- Implement CMMS MP2 and supervise Sawgrass site maintain and update.
- Make logic changes in PLC's as needed to support production.
- Waste water controls, Allen Bradley, PLC and starch recovery.
- Use of various environment controls- HVAC, fire protection apparatus and controls.
- Maintain repair logs, keep county code updates and FDA compliance assurance.
- Direct the activities of the plant to meet compliance in OSHA, environmental control.
- Repair of all building and vehicle maintenance, including electrical, plumbing, and minor refrigeration.
- Make adjustments or minor repairs to heat, cooling, ventilating, plumbing, or electrical system.
- Perform regular inspection on all machinery and maintain compliance to all regulations such as OSHA and HACCP.
- Coordinate logistics ensuring parts, personnel and supplies marry together ensuring repairs are completed quickly minimizing impact to ship schedules.
- Perform Mig and gas welding on an as-need basis.
- Identify and resolve recurring downtime issues through establishing a TPM program that addressed inefficient operational issues.
Plant maintenance supervisor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 12% of Plant Maintenance Supervisors are proficient in Safety Procedures, Production Lines, and USDA. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Plant Maintenance Supervisors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Safety Procedures, 12%
Participated in safety inspections, development of safety procedures, review of safety-related incidents.
- Production Lines, 9%
Helped design, build and startup a 2nd Large Kroger cheese plant with 10 production lines as assistant Plant Engineer.
- USDA, 7%
Certified official USDA inspection reports and recommended approval of payments to contracts, and completed required receiving reports.
- Plant Equipment, 5%
Worked closely with planning and operations to ensure availability of plant equipment.
- Plumbing, 5%
Conduct facility repairs, maintenance and renovations including electrical installation, HVAC and Plumbing.
- OSHA, 4%
Experience with ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code regulations, EPA, DOT, and OSHA standards and codes.
"safety procedures," "production lines," and "usda" are among the most common skills that plant maintenance supervisors use at work. You can find even more plant maintenance supervisor responsibilities below, including:
Customer-service skills. Another crucial skill for a plant maintenance supervisor to carry out their responsibilities is "customer-service skills." A big part of what plant maintenance supervisors relies on this skill, since "these workers interact with customers on a regular basis." How this skill relates to plant maintenance supervisor duties can be seen in an example from a plant maintenance supervisor resume snippet: "provided preventative maintenance and planning support, safety awareness and effective communications to assure customer expectations were met. "
Dexterity. Another skill commonly found on plant maintenance supervisor job descriptions is "dexterity." It can come up quite often in plant maintenance supervisor duties, since "many repair and maintenance tasks, such as repairing small devices, connecting or attaching components, and using hand tools, require a steady hand and good hand–eye coordination." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day plant maintenance supervisor responsibilities: "maintain front end loaders, forklifts, skid steer, semi, all equipment in the building. "
The three companies that hire the most plant maintenance supervisors are:
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Compare different plant maintenance supervisors
Plant maintenance supervisor vs. Lead mechanic
A lead mechanic coordinates the teams of mechanics and ensures the timely completion of repairs. Lead mechanics supervise their subordinates, order mechanical parts, and inspect their work making sure that the standards are met. They are responsible for repairing, overhauling, and maintaining vehicles or farm equipment. It is their job to provide support and give advice on matters associated with repairs. They also conduct road tests and maintain the repair of equipment. They should also have leadership and strong communication skills.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a plant maintenance supervisor are more likely to require skills like "production lines," "usda," "plant equipment," and "plumbing." On the other hand, a job as a lead mechanic requires skills like "preventive maintenance," "diagnosis," "landing gear," and "diesel engines." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Lead mechanics tend to make the most money working in the manufacturing industry, where they earn an average salary of $60,789. In contrast, plant maintenance supervisors make the biggest average salary, $56,812, in the construction industry.The education levels that lead mechanics earn slightly differ from plant maintenance supervisors. In particular, lead mechanics are 0.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a plant maintenance supervisor. Additionally, they're 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Plant maintenance supervisor vs. Supervisor of installation
A technical supervisor is a leader who offers hands-on leadership for the staff members. Technical supervisors oversee employee performance in a certain department of the organization. They monitor the installation, repair, troubleshooting, and maintenance work of technicians. They supervise teams of technicians, oversee workers, and perform inspections on work orders. Their skills include leadership, confidence, problem-solving, empathy, and strong communication skills. They should also be compassionate, be able to manage time, and a problem solver.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, plant maintenance supervisor responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "production lines," "usda," "plant equipment," and "plumbing." Meanwhile, a supervisor of installation has duties that require skills in areas such as "customer satisfaction," "project management," "safety standards," and "roofing." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, supervisors of installation earn a higher salary than plant maintenance supervisors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, supervisors of installation earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $57,497. Whereas plant maintenance supervisors have higher pay in the construction industry, with an average salary of $56,812.In general, supervisors of installation achieve similar levels of education than plant maintenance supervisors. They're 0.8% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Plant maintenance supervisor vs. Parts service manager
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, plant maintenance supervisors are more likely to have skills like "safety procedures," "production lines," "usda," and "plant equipment." But a parts service manager is more likely to have skills like "dealership," "warranty claims," "customer satisfaction," and "repair orders."
When it comes to education, parts service managers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to plant maintenance supervisors. In fact, they're 0.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Plant maintenance supervisor vs. Technical supervisor
Even though a few skill sets overlap between plant maintenance supervisors and technical supervisors, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a plant maintenance supervisor might have more use for skills like "production lines," "usda," "plant equipment," and "plumbing." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of technical supervisors require skills like "customer service," "customer satisfaction," "patient care," and "pet. "
The manufacturing industry tends to pay the highest salaries for technical supervisors, with average annual pay of $76,171. Comparatively, the highest plant maintenance supervisor annual salary comes from the construction industry.The average resume of technical supervisors showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to plant maintenance supervisors. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 2.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.4%.Types of plant maintenance supervisor
Updated January 8, 2025
