What does a Production Supervisor do?
Production supervisors are employees who oversee the production process, usually handling activities directly related to people management. They manage employees by ensuring that the production floor employees are doing their work well and are motivated. Production supervisors guide employees and ensure that everyone is working towards company goals. They properly communicate these goals as well as the strategies to meet the set goals. Production supervisors have a direct hand in the hiring and subsequent training of employees. They should have good communication skills, decision-making skills, and leadership skills.
Production supervisor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real production supervisor resumes:
- Manage an run extruders an injection molds.
- Utilize MRP system to monitor and manage raw material and finish goods inventory.
- Manage employee's schedules, time off requests, vacation and payroll with the KRONOS time management software.
- Manage departments responsible for beginning raw material production process using automate CNC control plasma cutting machines.
- Lead targeted decision-making across fast-pace production operations for this growth-orient USDA food factory producing quality meat products.
- Manage manufacturing department operations to ensure compliance with establish quality specifications, production levels, and FDA regulations.
- Perform TPM and machine inspections, to ensure building and production equipment operate correctly and efficiently.
- Organize and implement various KAIZEN projects within the department.
- Utilize KAIZEN events to improve process flow and eliminate non-value add steps.
- Implement SPC statistics to reduce parts incoming defect and improve process yields.
- Provide daily oversight of polymer, suture extrusion, and finishing operations.
- Utilize math skills to weigh and measure ingredients and products for assembly.
- Complete and maintain accurate and organize payroll and attendance records, documents, and reports.
- Exceed production efficiency of 0.60 units/man hr with a newly establish 120 team member coil assembly line.
- Reduce KanBan inventories of manufacturing supplies and materials by implementing inventory reduction cycles, saving 50K per quarter.
Production supervisor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 9% of Production Supervisors are proficient in Lean Manufacturing, Safety Procedures, and Production Schedules.
We break down the percentage of Production Supervisors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Lean Manufacturing, 9%
Implemented and Maintained Lean Manufacturing Philosophy Including 5/S Ideology Planned and Directed and Coordinated Assigned Manpower to Meet Aggressive Production Schedules.
- Safety Procedures, 6%
Utilized exceptional safety knowledge to implement safety procedures, securing an accident-free facility and contributing to facility achievement of ISO certification.
- Production Schedules, 6%
Acted as materials manager approving all engineering requisitions based upon actual material demand and impact to the production schedule.
- Quality Standards, 5%
Developed and implemented proactive systems for quoting and completing unplanned repair and overhaul work to meet quality standards and customer requirements.
- Customer Service, 4%
Direct communication with corporate and plants managers to negotiate production plan changes to assure customer service and maximize production capacity.
- ISO, 4%
Reviewed and approved all manufacturing-related Device History Records for thoroughness and conformity to written procedures and FDA and ISO requirements.
Most production supervisors use their skills in "lean manufacturing," "safety procedures," and "production schedules" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential production supervisor responsibilities here:
The three companies that hire the most production supervisors are:
- Lehigh Hanson
115 production supervisors jobs
- WestRock71 production supervisors jobs
- Verano65 production supervisors jobs
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Compare different production supervisors
Production supervisor vs. Assistant production manager
An assistant production manager is responsible for planning and overseeing an organization's manufacturing operations, ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently. They work under the directives and supervision of a production manager and present them with regular progress reports. Moreover, an assistant production manager also performs support tasks such as preparing guidelines and timelines, assessing the workforce's performance, liaising with internal and external parties, maintaining records, coordinating staff, and resolving issues and concerns. They must also lead and encourage staff while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a production supervisor are more likely to require skills like "lean manufacturing," "customer service," "corrective action," and "safety regulations." On the other hand, a job as an assistant production manager requires skills like "payroll," "purchase orders," "inventory management," and "production management." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Assistant production managers earn the highest salaries when working in the automotive industry, with an average yearly salary of $62,531. On the other hand, production supervisors are paid more in the automotive industry with an average salary of $77,082.assistant production managers tend to reach similar levels of education than production supervisors. In fact, assistant production managers are 0.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Production supervisor vs. Assembly supervisor
Assembly Supervisors oversee and coordinate employees' work on assembly-lines. The supervisors assign personnel to stations or tasks and prepare their work schedules. They monitor processes to make sure that the employees are carrying out their tasks correctly. It is their responsibility to monitor the whole assembly process for delay prevention. They also contribute to developing procedures and processes to boost the overall operation of the assembly lines.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, production supervisor responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "customer service," "iso," "osha," and "gmp." Meanwhile, an assembly supervisor has duties that require skills in areas such as "assembly operations," "delivery dates," "assembly procedures," and "excellent interpersonal." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Assembly supervisors may earn a lower salary than production supervisors, but assembly supervisors earn the most pay in the automotive industry with an average salary of $79,821. On the other hand, production supervisors receive higher pay in the automotive industry, where they earn an average salary of $77,082.In general, assembly supervisors achieve similar levels of education than production supervisors. They're 1.8% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Production supervisor vs. Production team leader
A production team leader is in charge of leading and overseeing the efforts of a production team, ensuring projects are carried out in adherence to its goals and timelines. It is their duty to set guidelines and objectives, manage budgets and schedules, liaise with internal and external parties, and assess the performance of team members. They must also monitor the progress of operations and address issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently. Moreover, a production team leader must encourage and lead staff to reach goals while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from production supervisor resumes include skills like "osha," "strong problem-solving," "production operations," and "hr," whereas a production team leader is more likely to list skills in "work ethic," "strong work ethic," "basic math," and "math. "
Production team leaders earn the best pay in the automotive industry, where they command an average salary of $52,373. Production supervisors earn the highest pay from the automotive industry, with an average salary of $77,082.When it comes to education, production team leaders tend to earn similar degree levels compared to production supervisors. In fact, they're 0.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Production supervisor vs. Production line leader
Types of production supervisor
Updated January 8, 2025
