Role and Functions of a Production Manager

The job responsibilities of a production manager  entail planning, coordination and control of manufacturing processes. A production manager ensures that goods and services are produced efficiently, as well as that the correct amount is produced at the right cost and in quality.

The success of the production process is essential to all progress in all sectors, whether its the print production manager job description, advertising production manager job description, the event production manager job description, or even the manufacturing production manager job description. Somewhere, they all overlap. However, let’s explore the generally known production manager job description.

Skill-Set & Competencies

Problem-Solving

Regardless of the industry, the production manager job description firstly entails problem-solving abilities. When a production bottleneck occurs, the production manager needs to involve all production resources involved and then chalk out an action plan.

A lot of times such problems will not wither away through a confrontational approach, and all the while the clock keeps ticking. Hence, to keep a cool mind is key to the job. In such testing situations, the resource needs to identify the problem, and also identify the easiest way around it to create a win-win situation.

Decision-Making

Another core chunk of the production manager job description is his decision making ability. Quite a few times, the situation demands an immediate switchover in the production process, for example when the marketing department decides to launch an emergency-measure competitor product, the production manager needs to sit down and provide a concrete solution.

Hence, it is important to be knowledgeable about market and internal conditions. Furthermore, the decision obviously has to be based on logical criteria. It is the production manager’s job to design a framework for decision making.

Planning and Organizing

The elements of planning and organizing are obviously central to the production manager’s job. There needs to be constant liaison with other employees and management, to ensure that every one is on the same page across the enterprise. Natural leadership abilities have to be put to the job.

Core Duties and Responsibilities of a Production Manager

Cost Efficiency and Productivity Enhancement

Meeting Production Goals

Typically, production managers devise methods to effectively make use of the company’s production resources, manpower and machines, to meet production goals.

Purchase and Maintenance of Machinery

This involves decisions such as which machines will be used, whether new machines need to be purchased, whether overtime or extra shifts are necessary, the sequence of production etc.

Production Supervision and Management

Throughout the process, they monitor the production to make sure that it stays on schedule, and tackle any issues that may arise.

Innovation and Creativity

Part of the production manager’s job is to constantly think of ways to make the production process more efficient. In today’s world, methods like the mass assembly line have acted as genesis for techniques such as “lean” production, which give managers more flexibility.

Lean production employs teams to build and assemble products in sporadic stations or cells. Thus, rather than specializing in a specific task, workers are capable of branching into all aspects of the production process. Hence, without the lethargy of the traditional assembly line, production managers can more easily alter production levels and staffing on different product lines, to maintain just-as-needed inventory levels, and practice more control over the process.

Quality Assurance

Product Standardization

In today’s quality-conscious world, production managers constantly monitor product standards and implement quality control frameworks. They make sure that the finished product meets a certain level of quality, and if it doesn’t, they try to find out what the problem and prevent it from re-occurring.

Ensuring Compliance with Standard Quality Control Frameworks

That process has become easier though, with the introduction of newer quality control frameworks, such as ISO 9000, Total Quality Management (TQM), or Six Sigma. These are designed by production experts to emphasize continuous quality improvement. If the cause is substandard materials or parts from outside suppliers, the production manager may work with the supplier to ensure quality.

Human-Resource Functions

Work Force Retention and Enhancement

If the problem relates to the worker not being able to cope with quality, the manager may implement training programs or reorganize the entire process, often with input from the employee teams.

Implementation of Company Policies and Goals

Additionally, production managers work closely with other departments to implement the company’s policies and goals. They also must work with the firm’s finance department to come up with a budget and forecast plan.

Interaction with Sales Teams

Their most often interactions are with the heads of the sales, procurement, and logistics departments. Sales managers relay the client’s needs and the price the client is willing to pay to the production department, which must then fill the order.

Logistics and Distribution

The logistics or distribution department handles the delivery of the goods, often coordinating with the production department. The procurement department only buys from suppliers as much as the production manager relays in terms of demands.

Hence, it is clear that the production manager is one of the key cogs in the industrial machine, one without which there is no progress to be made.

Salary of a Production Manager

The average salary of a production manager depends on various factors like work experience, educational degree, job location, types of projects and the nature of the employer. According to the updated standards  the starting salaries of production managers range between USD 50,000 to USD 70,000. For more seasoned and professional managers with great industry repute the salaries can also go up to USD 80,000 – USD 100,000.