Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between project managers-manufacturing and plant managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a project manager-manufacturing, becoming a plant manager takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a plant manager has an average salary of $113,843, which is higher than the $101,932 average annual salary of a project manager-manufacturing.
The top three skills for a project manager-manufacturing include project management, continuous improvement and project scope. The most important skills for a plant manager are continuous improvement, customer service, and safety program.
| Project Manager-Manufacturing | Plant Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $101,932 | $113,843 |
| Hourly rate | $49.01 | $54.73 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 96,301 | 275,962 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 48 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 6 |
A project manager-manufacturing is responsible for planning and overseeing a company's manufacturing procedures, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. They set budgets and objectives based on the project's needs, manage timelines and product roadmaps, assess the workforce performance, and develop strategies to optimize the manufacturing procedures. They must also address any issues and concerns, resolving them promptly to maintain a smooth project workflow. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, coordinating them while enforcing the company's regulations and policies.
In general, plant managers are responsible for the entire operations in a manufacturing plant. Plant managers plan, direct, organize, and run the optimum operations of the plant daily. They create and execute organizational or departmental goals procedures, and policies. They aim to increase the manufacturing production and the capacity and flexibility of its assets while keeping its current quality standards and unnecessary costs. They are expected to have a better understanding of the manufacturing industry like equipment use and mechanical aptitude.
Project managers-manufacturing and plant managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Project Manager-Manufacturing | Plant Manager | |
| Average salary | $101,932 | $113,843 |
| Salary range | Between $74,000 And $140,000 | Between $85,000 And $152,000 |
| Highest paying City | Foster City, CA | Richmond, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Varian Medical Systems | Koch Industries |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Finance |
There are a few differences between a project manager-manufacturing and a plant manager in terms of educational background:
| Project Manager-Manufacturing | Plant Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between project managers-manufacturing' and plant managers' demographics:
| Project Manager-Manufacturing | Plant Manager | |
| Average age | 48 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 83.5% Female, 16.5% | Male, 93.7% Female, 6.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.2% Asian, 9.2% White, 69.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 10% |