What is a Production Manager?

Production managers spend the majority of their time ensuring everything is running smoothly and efficiently. They come up with different processes, policies, and procedures in order to increase production and improve efficiency.

Aside from being a great leader, production managers are crazy-good at planning. Since they have to hit deadlines, they have everything planned down to the second. That's why efficiency is the name of their game. They want to ensure goals and deadlines are not only met, but also completed.

While they're consistently focused on meeting deadlines, production managers care a great deal about safety. A safe work environment equals a safe and happy team. That's why production managers place a huge emphasis on complying with safety policies and regulations. A safety rule a day keeps the work incidents at bay.

What Does a Production Manager Do

There are certain skills that many production managers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, leadership skills and problem-solving skills.

Learn more about what a Production Manager does

How To Become a Production Manager

If you're interested in becoming a production manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 61.7% of production managers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 7.1% of production managers have master's degrees. Even though most production managers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Production Manager

Production Manager Job Description

Production managers are in charge of overseeing the overall movement and operations of a company's production floor by ensuring that the different equipment and tools, as well as the manpower, are all working smoothly and efficiently. They create strategies to maximize all the equipment, improve efficiency, manage production, and engage the employees.

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Production Manager Career Paths

As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a production manager can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as operations manager, progress to a title such as general manager and then eventually end up with the title general manager of operations.

Production Manager

Average Salary for a Production Manager

Production Managers in America make an average salary of $78,064 per year or $38 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $120,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $50,000 per year.
Average Production Manager Salary
$78,064 Yearly
$37.53 hourly
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Roles and Types of Production Manager

The role of a production manager includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general production manager responsibilities:

  • Assume other activities or responsibilities as directed from the president
  • Supervises and directs the programs and activities of department heads evaluates the continuing effectiveness of broiler production operations by assessing the short
  • Manage and lead associates to achieve production targets, maintain

There are several types of production manager, including:

Production Leader

Role:

A production leader is accountable for the entire production process for all or some products. They plan, organize, and recommend strategies to ensure that the product is developed in line with all specifications. They lead teams working in operations and product development. Additionally, they suggest operational changes, evaluate risks, and ensure adherence to safety procedures. Furthermore, they resolve production problems and conduct performance evaluations. Also, they prepare relevant reports and daily status updates as required. Moreover, they perform other duties as assigned by the manager.

To work as a production leader, you need to have a minimum of a bachelor's degree in business management or a related field. Having relevant certifications is a plus. Candidates must have at least a year of relevant work experience. You must have problem-solving, communication, troubleshooting, organization, planning, and project management skills. Production leaders make an average salary of $59,261 annually. This falls between $33,000 and $107,000.

  • Average Salary: $44,563
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Production Team Leader

Role:

As a Production Team Leader, you will lead and oversee the production team's efforts and ensure the adherence of projects to their schedule and goals. You will be responsible for setting guidelines, managing budgets, and assessing team members' performance.

It is good to know about the common skills, and knowledge Production Team Leader applicants include in their resumes. These include Quality Standards, Customer Service, Safety Procedures, Production schedules, Company Policies, and Daily Production.

To be a Production Team Leader, there are several requirements you need to meet, especially in terms of education. Many Production Team Leaders today hold a bachelor's degree in management, electrical engineering, and business.

As a Production Team Leader, you can earn around $35,506 per year on average. You can also further your career if you'd like. You can be a Production Supervisor, a Production Manager, and a Manufacturing Manager after some time.

  • Average Salary: $38,780
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Production Control Manager

Role:

Running the manufacturing processes reliably and efficiently is not an easy task, but it is what production control managers have to do each day. The other duties of production control managers are to develop, manage, and coordinate the production schedules in the industrial environment. Handling the production workers and managing the flow of assemblies, materials, and parts are some of the responsibilities of these executives.

Almost half of the production control managers have a bachelor's degree in accounting, management, or business. Knowledge of MRP, logistics, continuous improvement, production control, and on-time delivery can be seen in the resumes of production control managers.

Agreement and negotiation of budgets and timescales with other managers and clients is also a part of their job description. On average, they earn about $43 per hour. Production control managers can make almost $90,000 per year. In the US, the career growth rate is quite slow, and you can observe a small increase in job opportunities over the coming years.

  • Average Salary: $89,453
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Production Manager Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active production manager jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where production managers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Production Manager Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California3,888$88,069
2Texas2,413$73,288
3Ohio1,886$58,185
4Illinois1,846$59,065
5Pennsylvania1,815$66,139
6Florida1,594$58,866
7Georgia1,331$55,340
8New York1,300$80,417
9Indiana1,270$55,173
10Michigan1,259$68,665
11Wisconsin1,175$59,369
12North Carolina1,096$46,158
13Virginia1,067$52,039
14Massachusetts1,058$84,033
15Minnesota1,041$61,516
16New Jersey907$78,685
17Tennessee882$56,996
18Missouri853$52,483
19Washington807$90,522
20Maryland740$66,802
21Arizona724$81,246
22Kentucky718$52,121
23Iowa664$48,980
24Colorado585$69,501
25South Carolina545$58,481
26Oregon533$73,380
27Alabama465$59,850
28Utah438$79,617
29Kansas424$58,657
30Connecticut384$84,064
31Nebraska306$50,537
32Arkansas281$57,224
33Mississippi279$54,188
34Nevada278$80,685
35New Hampshire253$84,101
36Oklahoma253$56,317
37Louisiana224$80,930
38Maine181$80,534
39Idaho171$78,690
40West Virginia153$58,088
41New Mexico131$64,128
42Rhode Island125$93,747
43Delaware122$75,077
44Vermont104$66,378
45Montana96$60,872
46North Dakota91$54,405
47South Dakota87$59,915
48Alaska60$64,101
49Hawaii48$71,525
50Wyoming39$68,986

Production Manager Education

Production Manager Majors

Business
31.5 %
Communication
7.7 %
Graphic Design
7.2 %

Production Manager Degrees

Bachelors

61.7 %

Associate

18.2 %

High School Diploma

8.2 %

Top Colleges for Production Managers

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

4. Maine Maritime Academy

Castine, ME • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,478

Enrollment

979

5. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

6. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

7. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

8. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,308

Enrollment

6,819

9. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

10. Bentley University

Waltham, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$49,880

Enrollment

4,177

Top Skills For a Production Manager

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 8.0% of production managers listed continuous improvement on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and leadership skills are important as well.

  • Continuous Improvement, 8.0%
  • Customer Service, 6.8%
  • Quality Standards, 6.1%
  • Safety Procedures, 5.9%
  • Lean Manufacturing, 5.7%
  • Other Skills, 67.5%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Production Manager Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Production Manager templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Production Manager resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Production Manager Resume
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Production Manager diversity

Production Manager Gender Distribution

Male
Male
77%
Female
Female
23%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among production managers, 23.4% of them are women, while 76.6% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among production managers is White, which makes up 60.8% of all production managers.

  • The most common foreign language among production managers is Spanish at 56.1%.

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Best States For a Production Manager

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a production manager. The best states for people in this position are Rhode Island, Washington, California, and New Hampshire. Production managers make the most in Rhode Island with an average salary of $93,747. Whereas in Washington and California, they would average $90,522 and $88,069, respectively. While production managers would only make an average of $84,101 in New Hampshire, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. New Hampshire

Total Production Manager Jobs: 253
Highest 10% Earn:
$136,000
Location Quotient:
1.11

$84,101

Avg. Salary

View 253 Production Manager Jobs In NH

2. Washington

Total Production Manager Jobs: 807
Highest 10% Earn:
$145,000
Location Quotient:
0.85

$90,522

Avg. Salary

View 807 Production Manager Jobs In WA

3. California

Total Production Manager Jobs: 3,888
Highest 10% Earn:
$141,000
Location Quotient:
1.02

$88,069

Avg. Salary

View 3,888 Production Manager Jobs In CA
Full List Of Best States For Production Managers

How Do Production Managers Rate Their Jobs?

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Top Production Manager Employers

Most Common Employers For Production Manager

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Solectron Corp$107,011$51.4540
2Motorola Solutions$94,954$45.6551
3Boeing$91,242$43.8770
4JELD-WEN$77,189$37.1146
5Student Painters$70,703$33.9948
6US Air Conditioning Distributors$70,674$33.9887
7USAF Police Alumni Association$70,403$33.8556
8Niagara Bottling$70,105$33.7040
9Servpro$68,509$32.94192
10Cintas$68,256$32.8272
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Becoming a Production Manager FAQs

How Long Does It Take To Become A Production Manager?

It takes 6 years of professional experience to become a production manager. That is the time it takes to learn specific production manager skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education. If you include the normal education requirements to complete a college degree, then it takes 9 to 11 years years to become a production manager.

What Do You Call A Production Manager?

You can call a production manager a plant manager. A production manager in manufacturing is commonly known as a plant manager. However, many other titles are also used depending on the company and industry.

What Does It Take To Be A Production Manager?

What it takes to be a production manager is a hard-working attitude, supervisor experience, and a willingness to learn production.

A production manager in manufacturing maintains records of material counts, employee quotes, and more. In this position, your duties are to keep the facility working at the capacity requested by your supervisor.

What Qualifications Do You Need To Be A Production Manager?

The qualifications needed to be a production manager are the right culmination of fundamental manufacturing knowledge and experience working in a supervisor role in production.

Most production managers have a bachelor's degree in degree in business administration or industrial engineering. After that, experience related to operations and five or more years of experience in a supervisory or management role is needed.

Have more questions? See all answers to common production and manufacturing questions.

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Updated April 6, 2023