Manufacturing Manager

As a Manufacturing Manager, you keep the production process rolling. You oversee the operation, and maintain the production schedule through planning and anticipation. Knowing the amount of time needed to make a product, as well as the ebbs and flows of your business, ensures that orders are always filled as a Manufacturing Manager.

For example, if your company makes a popular summertime widget and a highly successful fall/winter gadget, you plan accordingly. Because you’re the Manufacturing Manager, you know that the company must have enough summertime widgets available for purchase early in the year, so you calculate when production must begin. If it takes one week to make 100,000 widgets and your company needs 500,000 widgets, then production must start approximately six weeks prior (always leave room for unexpected emergencies). After that, you switch your focus to preparing for the winter gadgets—all while balancing the other requirements of the position.

Leadership skills are required as you track the progress of your production team and provide guidance when needed. When the company looks for ways to reduce spending, you step in and determine where expenses can be trimmed in the production department. This means using your negotiation skills to reduce the cost of a particular component of the widget, or cutting back on staffing. Making tough decisions that influence the lives of your employees requires self-confidence and determination—the same traits that reward those employees when goals are met and bonuses are paid.