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Production superintendent vs supervisor

The differences between production superintendents and supervisors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a production superintendent and a supervisor. Additionally, a production superintendent has an average salary of $88,703, which is higher than the $53,902 average annual salary of a supervisor.

The top three skills for a production superintendent include continuous improvement, OSHA and production supervisors. The most important skills for a supervisor are customer service, safety procedures, and sales floor.

Production superintendent vs supervisor overview

Production SuperintendentSupervisor
Yearly salary$88,703$53,902
Hourly rate$42.65$25.91
Growth rate--
Number of jobs101,534224,920
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 53%Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age4646
Years of experience22

What does a production superintendent do?

A production superintendent oversees the production operations of manufacturing plants to ensure their efficiency and adherence to guidelines, budgets, and timelines. They have the authority to coordinate meetings with managers and teams to set objectives and schedules, supervise the use of funds, address issues and concerns, conduct assessments and evaluations, and develop strategies to meet production goals. Moreover, as a production superintendent, it is essential to lead staff while implementing the company's safety policies and regulations for a smooth and safe workflow.

What does a supervisor do?

Supervisors are responsible for overseeing the daily functions of employees in a specific team, department, or even a work shift. They create work schedules, organize work processes and workflows, train new hires, provide necessary reports related to the team function and the employees, monitor and evaluate employee performance, and ensure that goals of the specific team or department are met. When needed, supervisors also provide guidance to employees in terms of their career or even personal challenges. They also help in fostering harmonious work relationships by resolving interpersonal conflicts at work. To be successful in their role, they must have leadership skills, time management skills, decision-making capabilities, analytical skills, and problem-solving skills.

Production superintendent vs supervisor salary

Production superintendents and supervisors have different pay scales, as shown below.

Production SuperintendentSupervisor
Average salary$88,703$53,902
Salary rangeBetween $62,000 And $125,000Between $31,000 And $92,000
Highest paying CityEast Windsor, NJNew York, NY
Highest paying stateNew JerseyAlaska
Best paying companyBungeReed Smith
Best paying industryAutomotiveHealth Care

Differences between production superintendent and supervisor education

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

Production SuperintendentSupervisor
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 53%Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Production superintendent vs supervisor demographics

Here are the differences between production superintendents' and supervisors' demographics:

Production SuperintendentSupervisor
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 95.5% Female, 4.5%Male, 55.8% Female, 44.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 13.1% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 4.8% White, 61.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 19.0% Asian, 4.6% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage6%6%

Differences between production superintendent and supervisor duties and responsibilities

Production superintendent example responsibilities.

  • Manage day-to-day operation and maintenance activities in a high volume, OSHA, PSM cover specialty chemical manufacturing facility.
  • Participate in kaizen events and lean projects.
  • Script SQL commands for data mining and ad-hoc reports.
  • Analyze vendor data and debug production databases (SQL).
  • Introduce Kaizen and SPC to facility and develop metrics for operating unit.
  • Train employees in hazard analysis of critical control points (HACCP).
  • Show more

Supervisor example responsibilities.

  • Lead continuous process improvement and six sigma teams to meet ISO 9001 and QS 9000 standards.
  • Manage and implement merchandising strategy for POS marketing and display inventory.
  • Lead comprehensive training for each new volunteer or court-mandate worker regarding OSHA regulations and warehouse procedure.
  • Organize care with 6 CNAs.
  • Coordinate lifeguard duty schedule for all pools.
  • Maintain cleanliness throughout kitchen, coolers, and freezer areas.
  • Show more

Production superintendent vs supervisor skills

Common production superintendent skills
  • Continuous Improvement, 10%
  • OSHA, 10%
  • Production Supervisors, 9%
  • Safety Standards, 9%
  • Product Quality, 7%
  • Equipment Maintenance, 5%
Common supervisor skills
  • Customer Service, 11%
  • Safety Procedures, 9%
  • Sales Floor, 9%
  • POS, 9%
  • Direct Supervision, 9%
  • Payroll, 5%

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