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What does a project manager-manufacturing do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read

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.

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Project manager-manufacturing responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real project manager-manufacturing resumes:

  • Lead executive team through evaluation of ERP providers including contract negotiations.
  • Manage project responsibilities from concept and prototyping of a product to FDA approval process through implementation into commercialization.
  • Implement lead manufacturing principles to achieve continuous improvement processes; hire qualified machinists; ensure division-wide OSHA compliance.
  • Assure project adherence to corporate processes and ISO compliance.
  • Chair the project to analyze regulatory risk for systems in advance of FDA relate audit.
  • Direct production resources supporting attainment of ISO 9002, ISO 14001 and customer quality certifications.
  • Train employees on process, safety and a new global software (MRP) system.
  • Work very close with production supervisors and QC to reduce rejects and mistakes during the production process.
  • Assist production control and finance by addressing production reporting deficiencies to improve MRP accuracy and time reporting.
  • Manage project responsibilities from concept and prototyping of a product to FDA approval process through implementation into commercialization.
  • Lead all APQP during the launching process of each project, having no major issue in production mode in any program.
  • Prepare, revise and maintain documentation require to support manufacturing including engineering drawings, BOM's and product routers.
  • Complete APQP documents and coordinate cross-functional teams to resolve engineering issues.
  • Implement overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) metrics to focus attention on key process equipment availability, performance and quality factors.

Project manager-manufacturing skills and personality traits

We calculated that 24% of Project Managers-Manufacturing are proficient in Project Management, Continuous Improvement, and Project Scope. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Leadership skills, and Problem-solving skills.

We break down the percentage of Project Managers-Manufacturing that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Project Management, 24%

    Team effort was dramatically reduced by introducing project management practices which in turn revitalized team moral.

  • Continuous Improvement, 6%

    Make continuous improvements to increase productivity while eliminating waste.

  • Project Scope, 4%

    Work with the Business Unit Manager, Engineering & Procurement Departments to establish Project Scope, Project Budget and Project Schedule.

  • ERP, 4%

    Led executive team through evaluation of ERP providers including contract negotiations.

  • Product Development, 4%

    Directed company's strategic product development and engineering initiatives.

  • QC, 4%

    Lead all engineering/manufacturing, operations, safety and QC initiatives of internal and external teams.

Common skills that a project manager-manufacturing uses to do their job include "project management," "continuous improvement," and "project scope." You can find details on the most important project manager-manufacturing responsibilities below.

Interpersonal skills. The most essential soft skill for a project manager-manufacturing to carry out their responsibilities is interpersonal skills. This skill is important for the role because "industrial production managers must have excellent communication skills to work well other managers and with staff." Additionally, a project manager-manufacturing resume shows how their duties depend on interpersonal skills: "train and certify production supervisors to written procedures and to develop interpersonal skills. "

Leadership skills. Another essential skill to perform project manager-manufacturing duties is leadership skills. Project managers-manufacturing responsibilities require that "to keep the production process running smoothly, industrial production managers must motivate and direct employees." Project managers-manufacturing also use leadership skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "provide project management leadership and sap support to global customer for inventory control process and procedural improvements. "

Problem-solving skills. This is an important skill for project managers-manufacturing to perform their duties. For an example of how project manager-manufacturing responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "production managers must identify and address problems that arise." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a project manager-manufacturing: "implemented an erp solution for project planning and management, time tracking, extensive reporting, issue/risk tracking and change control. ".

All project manager-manufacturing skills

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Compare different project managers-manufacturing

Project manager-manufacturing vs. Plant superintendent

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.

The annual salary of plant superintendents is $6,783 lower than the average salary of project managers-manufacturing.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both project manager-manufacturing and plant superintendent positions are skilled in continuous improvement, qc, and lean manufacturing.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between project managers-manufacturing and plant superintendent. For instance, project manager-manufacturing responsibilities require skills such as "project management," "pre sales," "project scope," and "erp." Whereas a plant superintendent is skilled in "plant safety," "production supervisors," "osha," and "plant operations." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Plant superintendents earn the highest salaries when working in the finance industry, with an average yearly salary of $116,194. On the other hand, project managers-manufacturing are paid more in the health care industry with an average salary of $109,860.plant superintendents tend to reach lower levels of education than project managers-manufacturing. In fact, plant superintendents are 10.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Project manager-manufacturing vs. Production administrator

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.

A career as a production administrator brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a project manager-manufacturing. In fact, production administrators salary is $61,989 lower than the salary of project managers-manufacturing per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both project managers-manufacturing and production administrators have skills such as "erp," "iso," and "qa. "

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that project manager-manufacturing responsibilities requires skills like "project management," "pre sales," "continuous improvement," and "project scope." But a production administrator might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "data entry," "purchase orders," "windows," and "payroll."

Production administrators earn a lower average salary than project managers-manufacturing. But production administrators earn the highest pay in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $43,182. Additionally, project managers-manufacturing earn the highest salaries in the health care with average pay of $109,860 annually.In general, production administrators achieve lower levels of education than project managers-manufacturing. They're 12.5% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Project manager-manufacturing vs. Engineering manager

An engineering manager is responsible for managing the overall concept of engineering and construction projects, ensuring that the plan meets the budget goals and the client's specifications. Engineering managers approve designs, plan strategic procedures to follow the project's timetable, analyze current market trends, hire the best and efficient contractors, and coordinate with the clients for any changes and adjustments as needed. An engineering manager must have excellent knowledge of engineering disciplines, as well as leadership and communication skills, monitoring the team's performance throughout the project.

On average, engineering managers earn higher salaries than project managers-manufacturing, with a $37,396 difference per year.By looking over several project managers-manufacturing and engineering managers resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "project management," "pre sales," and "continuous improvement." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a project manager-manufacturing is likely to be skilled in "project scope," "qc," "medical devices," and "kpis," while a typical engineering manager is skilled in "java," "software development," "c++," and "ul."

Engineering managers earn the best pay in the automotive industry, where they command an average salary of $148,218. Project managers-manufacturing earn the highest pay from the health care industry, with an average salary of $109,860.When it comes to education, engineering managers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to project managers-manufacturing. In fact, they're 0.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Project manager-manufacturing vs. Assistant plant manager

An assistant plant manager is in charge of overseeing plant operations, ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently. Their responsibilities revolve around managing the daily plant operations, assessing the workforce performance, and performing administrative support tasks such as producing progress reports and presentations, managing budgets and schedules, answering inquiries, and handling calls and correspondence. Furthermore, as an assistant plant manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.

Assistant plant managers average a lower salary than the annual salary of project managers-manufacturing. The difference is about $16,177 per year.While their salaries may vary, project managers-manufacturing and assistant plant managers both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "continuous improvement," "erp," and "qc. "Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A project manager-manufacturing uses "project management," "pre sales," "project scope," and "product development." Assistant plant managers are more likely to have duties that require skills in "safety program," "osha," "plant operations," and "production schedules. "assistant plant managers reach lower levels of education compared to project managers-manufacturing, in general. The difference is that they're 11.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of project manager-manufacturing

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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