What Does a Plant Manager Do?

We looked at the average plant manager annual salary and compared it with the average of a general manager of operations. Generally speaking, general managers of operations receive $24,321 lower pay than plant managers per year.

While their salaries may differ, one common ground between plant managers and general managers of operations are a few of the skills required in each craft. In both careers, employees bring forth skills like continuous improvement, customer service, and human resources.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A plant manager responsibility is more likely to require skills like "safety program," "plant operations," "lean manufacturing," and "osha." Whereas a general manager of operations requires skills like "develop team," "financial statements," "payroll," and "oversight." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

The education levels that general managers of operations earn is a bit different than that of plant managers. In particular, general managers of operations are 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a plant manager. Additionally, they're 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Next up, we have the continuous improvement manager profession to look over. This career brings along a lower average salary when compared to a plant manager annual salary. In fact, continuous improvement managers salary difference is $14,199 lower than the salary of plant managers per year.

Not everything about these jobs is different. Take their skills, for example. Plant managers and continuous improvement managers both include similar skills like "continuous improvement," "customer service," and "lean manufacturing" on their resumes.

But both careers also use different skills, according to real plant manager resumes. While plant manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "safety program," "plant operations," "production facility," and "human resources," some continuous improvement managers use skills like "lean six sigma," "project management," "kaizen events," and "lean tools."

On average, continuous improvement managers earn a lower salary than plant managers. There are industries that support higher salaries in each profession respectively. Interestingly enough, continuous improvement managers earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $95,413. Whereas, plant managers have higher paychecks in the finance industry where they earn an average of $102,077.

In general, continuous improvement managers study at higher levels of education than plant managers. They're 7.3% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

The manager/partner profession generally makes a lower amount of money when compared to the average salary of plant managers. The difference in salaries is managers/partner making $18,461 lower than plant managers.

Using plant managers and managers/partner resumes, we found that both professions have similar skills such as "customer service," "human resources," and "customer satisfaction," but the other skills required are very different.

There are many key differences between these two careers as shown by resumes from each profession. Some of those differences include the skills required to complete responsibilities within each role. As an example of this, a plant manager is likely to be skilled in "continuous improvement," "safety program," "plant operations," and "lean manufacturing," while a typical manager/partner is skilled in "business development," "project management," "client facing," and "account management."

When it comes to education, managers/partner tend to earn similar education levels than plant managers. In fact, they're 2.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.7% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Process improvement managers tend to earn a lower pay than plant managers by about $8,389 per year.

According to resumes from both plant managers and process improvement managers, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "continuous improvement," "lean manufacturing," and "product quality. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a plant manager might have more use for skills like "customer service," "safety program," "plant operations," and "osha." Meanwhile, some process improvement managers might include skills like "lean six sigma," "project management," "dmaic," and "management process" on their resume.

Now, let's take a closer look at the financials in each career. The technology industry tends to pay more for process improvement managers with an average of $99,802. While the highest plant manager annual salary comes from the finance industry.

In general, process improvement managers reach higher levels of education when compared to plant managers resumes. Process improvement managers are 7.0% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.