Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 189,300 people employed as industrial production managers in the United States. The median annual salary is $108,800. Entry level employees earn approximately $67,100 per year and senior employees earn approximately $181,220 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime pay, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.

Job Duties

• Review plans and confer with research or support staff to develop new products or processes.
• Develop budgets or approve expenditures for supplies, materials, or human resources, ensuring that materials, labor, or equipment are used efficiently to meet production targets.
• Maintain current knowledge of the quality control field, relying on current literature pertaining to materials use, technological advances, or statistical studies.
• Coordinate or recommend procedures for facility or equipment maintenance or modification, including the replacement of machines.
• Initiate or coordinate inventory or cost control programs.
• Negotiate materials prices with suppliers.
• Direct or coordinate production, processing, distribution, or marketing activities of industrial organizations.
• Review processing schedules or production orders to make decisions concerning inventory requirements, staffing requirements, work procedures, or duty assignments, considering budgetary limitations and time constraints.
• Review operations and confer with technical or administrative staff to resolve production or processing problems.
• Hire, train, evaluate, or discharge staff or resolve personnel grievances.
• Develop or implement production tracking or quality control systems, analyzing production, quality control, maintenance, or other operational reports to detect production problems.
• Prepare and maintain production reports or personnel records.
• Set and monitor product standards, examining samples of raw products or directing testing during processing, to ensure finished products are of prescribed quality.

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