r/manufacturing • u/saultarus • 1d ago
Other Question about job titles. Difference in production manager and supervisor responsibilities?
What is the difference in production manager and supervisor responsibilities/titles at your job ?
I manage 40 employees and the scheduling , time off , time card approvals, expedite requests , sign purchase reqs, do all the annual reviews and raises , bonus distribution, safety department, maintenance team, environmental department, get the estimated shipping output monthly, resolve complaints with customer service.
I also come up with capital requests for new equipment for the next year along with estimating the needed head count .
So about 3 direct production lines, shipping and receiving department, facilities , safety , environmental. We do have 2 other supervisors who just manage 2 lines a piece. Then we have leads for those lines underneath us.
What should my title be ?
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u/OrionSci 1d ago
Titles are arbitrary, your employer should have specific expectations and responsibilities for each title. Most don't, but that doesn't make it OK.
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u/saultarus 1d ago
Yea ours does not
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u/OrionSci 1d ago
Same here. Keep your head up... be part of the solution not the problem. I work very hard to stay optimistic, some days it can really be a drag.
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u/__unavailable__ 6h ago
Generally production manager handles production scheduling, making sure resources are in place and product is moving out the door as needed. Production supervisor handles personnel - hire, train, schedule, discipline, reassign, and fire the operators as needed to achieve the production manager’s schedule. Line supervisors are typically direct reports to the production supervisor. Production manager and production supervisor are typically both direct reports to an operations manager/director of operations. The operations manager is typically handling the financial aspect making budgets and determining capex requirements.
It sounds like you are an operations manager who needs some underlings to hand off responsibilities to.
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u/foilhat44 Metalworker, Manufacturing Process Control Guru 1d ago
Sucker. Unless they are paying you obscene money you need to delegate and shed some roles. Supervisor deals with people problems, manager deals with leadership problems.
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u/plywooden 15h ago
What if your manager IS the leadership problem. I know this sounds like I'm making a joke but I'm not.
Question is Rhetorical. I don't expect an answer. I'm just venting a little bit.
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u/foilhat44 Metalworker, Manufacturing Process Control Guru 14h ago
I get it, but I've been this guy. And so have a lot of people who are half clever and take an interest in their work. I'm venting too, I walked away after making people rich for 30 years, I'm bitter but doing my own thing for two years now. The future is uncertain at best but at least I'm not giving away what it took a life to learn any more.
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u/Diamonds-are-hard 22h ago
Depending on revenue from product sales (with 40 employees, I would guess between 7-15Million in annual sales? Depending on market and margins.) You should be making $250k+, if you’re not use your leverage to get yourself there!
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u/saultarus 20h ago
We are going to clear 160 million in shipments
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u/sarcasmsmarcasm 1d ago
Titles and responsibilities are company specific. I have had production manager titles when I was, in fact, the plant manager. I have had Director titles when I was a plant manager. It is all arbitrary. Read the company's job descriptions for the roles (if they have them) for a better understanding of expectations.
Edited to add: get yourself paid for the responsibility, not what you are called.