| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Production |
| Level | Senior management |
| Reports to | Plant Head |
| Direct reports | Production Manager, Maintenance Manager, QC Manager, Warehouse Manager, Safety Officer |
| Experience | 12 to 18 years in manufacturing, including 3+ years managing production or maintenance for a full plant |
Plant Manager job description template
Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.
Job title: Plant Manager
Department: Production
Reports to: Plant Head
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Plant Manager runs the daily operations of a manufacturing plant, making production, maintenance, quality control, stores and dispatch work to one plan. In larger sites they report to a plant head who handles budgets, capex and external relations; in smaller companies the plant manager is the top person at the site. A good plant manager hits the weekly schedule, keeps machines and people available, and fixes the causes of repeat problems instead of the symptoms.
Key responsibilities
- Run the daily operations review across production, maintenance, quality and stores, and agree actions with owners and deadlines.
- Approve the weekly production schedule and adjust it for breakdowns, material shortages and urgent customer orders.
- Monitor OEE, scrap, rework and downtime by line, and lead root cause analysis on the largest losses each week.
- Make sure preventive maintenance and calibration plans are followed and critical spares are in stock.
- Hold manpower meetings with production and plant HR on absenteeism, overtime and skill gaps on each line.
- Enforce SOPs, 5S and safety rules through daily gemba walks of the shop floor.
- Coordinate with supply chain on material availability and with logistics on the week's dispatch plan.
- Resolve quality complaints with the QC manager and approve containment actions for suspect material.
- Watch operating cost heads such as power, consumables, overtime and repairs against the monthly budget.
- Report plant performance upward with reasons for gaps and the corrective plan for each.
Requirements
- BE or BTech in Mechanical, Production, Electrical or Chemical Engineering
- Diploma holders with long plant experience are considered in some companies
- Lean or Six Sigma Green Belt is an advantage
- 12 to 18 years in manufacturing, including 3+ years managing production or maintenance for a full plant
KRAs and KPIs for a Plant Manager
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Schedule adherence | Weekly production schedule adherence of 95 percent or more by line |
| Equipment effectiveness | Plant OEE at or above the target set for the year, measured weekly |
| Quality losses | Internal scrap and rework cost below the monthly budget |
| Maintenance discipline | Preventive maintenance compliance of 95 percent or more, with repeat breakdowns falling each quarter |
| Operating cost | Power, consumables and overtime cost per unit within the monthly budget |
| Safety | Zero lost time injuries and every monthly safety audit action closed on time |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: SAP PP and PM, OEE tracking sheets or software, Excel, Andon and visual management boards, Quality system records.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Plant Head, General Manager Operations, Head of Manufacturing
Interview questions for a Plant Manager
- Show me how you would break down a 10 point drop in OEE on one line.
- Maintenance wants a machine down for two days and production says the order cannot wait. How do you decide?
- What do you look for on a gemba walk that a report will not tell you?
- How do you plan manpower when absenteeism jumps in the week after Diwali?
- Tell me about a repeat problem you fixed for good. How did you prove it was fixed?
- How do you keep department managers accountable in a daily meeting without turning it into blame?
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What does a plant manager do in a manufacturing company?
A plant manager runs daily plant operations. They review production, maintenance, quality and stores every day, approve the weekly schedule, lead root cause work on the biggest losses, enforce safety and SOPs on the floor and keep operating costs within budget. They report to the plant head or, where there is none, the head of manufacturing.
What qualifications are needed for a plant manager job?
Most plant managers are engineering graduates in mechanical, production, electrical or chemical engineering with 12 or more years of plant experience. Hands-on exposure to both production and maintenance is valued. Lean, Six Sigma or TPM training and familiarity with ISO or IATF quality systems strengthen an application.
How is a plant manager different from a production manager?
A production manager's job is making the product: shifts, output, manpower and process discipline in the production departments. A plant manager is responsible for the whole plant working together, including maintenance, quality, stores and dispatch, and settles the trade-offs between them. The production manager usually reports to the plant manager.