Plant superintendent vs production administrator

The differences between plant superintendents and production administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a plant superintendent and a production administrator. Additionally, a plant superintendent has an average salary of $95,149, which is higher than the $39,943 average annual salary of a production administrator.

The top three skills for a plant superintendent include plant safety, production supervisors and OSHA. The most important skills for a production administrator are data entry, purchase orders, and windows.

Plant superintendent vs production administrator overview

	Plant Superintendent	Production Administrator
Yearly salary	$95,149	$39,943
Hourly rate	$45.74	$19.20
Growth rate	3%	3%
Number of jobs	31,744	102,025
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	2	2

What does a plant superintendent do?

Plant superintendents must have skills in operations, productions, and management. They also need a 4-year degree in business or industrial management. Those who choose this career will be called upon to oversee a plant's manufacturing processes and to recommend improvements to increase productivity. They also enforce all state and federal regulations for plant operations and employee safety.

What does a production administrator do?

Production administrators support all artistic and production functions with expert administrative support to the entire production team. Part of their responsibilities includes maintaining the annual production expenses and production calendar, researching potential venues and maintaining a venue database, and preparing expense reports for artists and production staff. These administrators must be excellent in organization and planning skills, comfortable and flexible with evolving roles, and highly proficient in computer skills such as Excel, PowerPoint, and Microsoft Office.

Plant superintendent vs production administrator salary

Plant superintendents and production administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Plant Superintendent	Production Administrator
Average salary	$95,149	$39,943
Salary range	Between $67,000 And $134,000	Between $26,000 And $60,000
Highest paying City	West Sacramento, CA	Binghamton, NY
Highest paying state	Alaska	Connecticut
Best paying company	Koch Industries	Astronics
Best paying industry	Finance	Manufacturing

Differences between plant superintendent and production administrator education

There are a few differences between a plant superintendent and a production administrator in terms of educational background:

	Plant Superintendent	Production Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Northwestern University	Northwestern University

Plant superintendent vs production administrator demographics

Here are the differences between plant superintendents' and production administrators' demographics:

	Plant Superintendent	Production Administrator
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 96.9% Female, 3.1%	Male, 33.7% Female, 66.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.1% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 7.6% White, 69.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.0% Asian, 9.0% White, 69.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between plant superintendent and production administrator duties and responsibilities

Plant superintendent example responsibilities.

Manage employee's schedules, time off requests, vacation and payroll with the KRONOS time management software.
Establish safety training program and documentation to satisfy OSHA requirements.
Direct and monitor plant personnel in accordance with OSHA regulations and company safety program.
Function as plant buyer, scheduler, maintenance, and QC lab tech.
Assist machine shop employee's adherence to GMP regulations and completing all necessary paperwork.
Organize training programs for the production personnel GMP, safety compliance and S.O.P's.

Production administrator example responsibilities.

Establish operating policies and procedures and attain SNF Medicare certification.
Supervise and train new employees on (ISO) internal policies and procedures.
Work with other internal auditors to ensure compliance with ISO, PED & TPED requirements.
Work closely with plant manager to aid in his understanding of data information from ERP and financial systems.
Prepare shipping documents per customer specification utilize through the customers' logistics portal.
Develop, analyze, and compile report information for weekly organizational logistics conferences.

Plant superintendent vs production administrator skills

Common plant superintendent skills

Plant Safety, 10%
Production Supervisors, 9%
OSHA, 6%
Continuous Improvement, 6%
Plant Operations, 6%
Lean Manufacturing, 5%

Common production administrator skills

Data Entry, 21%
Purchase Orders, 10%
Windows, 8%
Payroll, 7%
Production Schedules, 5%
SQL, 4%

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Plant Superintendent
Plant Superintendent vs Production Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

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