Supervisor vs production supervisor

The differences between supervisors and production 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 supervisor and a production supervisor. Additionally, a production supervisor has an average salary of $63,391, which is higher than the $53,902 average annual salary of a supervisor.

The top three skills for a supervisor include customer service, safety procedures and sales floor. The most important skills for a production supervisor are lean manufacturing, safety procedures, and production schedules.

Supervisor vs production supervisor overview

	Supervisor	Production Supervisor
Yearly salary	$53,902	$63,391
Hourly rate	$25.91	$30.48
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	224,920	83,529
Job satisfaction	5	4.33
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	2	2

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.

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.

Supervisor vs production supervisor salary

Supervisors and production supervisors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Supervisor	Production Supervisor
Average salary	$53,902	$63,391
Salary range	Between $31,000 And $92,000	Between $43,000 And $91,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	Fremont, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	California
Best paying company	Reed Smith	Intuitive Surgical
Best paying industry	Health Care	Automotive

Differences between supervisor and production supervisor education

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

	Supervisor	Production Supervisor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

Supervisor vs production supervisor demographics

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

	Supervisor	Production Supervisor
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 55.8% Female, 44.2%	Male, 83.4% Female, 16.6%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 17.1% Asian, 5.0% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between supervisor and production supervisor duties and responsibilities

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.

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Production supervisor example responsibilities.

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.

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Supervisor vs production supervisor skills

Common supervisor skills

Customer Service, 11%
Safety Procedures, 9%
Sales Floor, 9%
POS, 9%
Direct Supervision, 9%
Payroll, 5%

Common production supervisor skills

Lean Manufacturing, 9%
Safety Procedures, 6%
Production Schedules, 6%
Quality Standards, 5%
Customer Service, 4%
ISO, 4%

Supervisor vs. similar jobs

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Updated January 8, 2025

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