| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Production |
| Level | Manager |
| Reports to | Plant Manager |
| Direct reports | Assistant Production Manager, Shift Manager, Production Supervisor, Production Engineer |
| Experience | 10 to 15 years in production, including 4+ years managing a department or production block |
Production 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: Production Manager
Department: Production
Reports to: Plant Manager
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Production Manager is responsible for making the product in the planned quantity, at the right quality and cost, with a safe workforce. They lead the shift in-charges, supervisors and production engineers of their department, manage manpower and overtime, and keep process discipline on the floor. They usually report to the plant manager or GM production. A good production manager delivers the monthly plan with steady productivity and few surprises for quality or maintenance.
Key responsibilities
- Plan the department's monthly and weekly production with PPC, matching the plan to manpower, machine availability and materials.
- Set daily targets for each shift and review actual output, efficiency and downtime in the morning production meeting.
- Manage department manpower, covering shift allocation, overtime approval, leave planning and multi-skilling of operators.
- Enforce SOPs, safety rules and 5S on all shifts through regular floor audits.
- Agree breakdown response and preventive maintenance slots with maintenance so lost production hours fall every month.
- Own production's part in first piece approval, in-process checks and customer complaints, and close the corrective actions.
- Control department costs such as consumables, power, overtime and scrap, and explain monthly variances.
- Improve productivity through line balancing, cycle time reduction and kaizen ideas from operators.
- Handle discipline, grievances and performance issues of supervisors and workers together with plant HR.
- Report production performance and improvement status to the plant manager every week.
Requirements
- Engineering graduate in Mechanical, Production, Chemical or Electrical
- Diploma holders with long production experience are accepted in some companies
- Six Sigma Green Belt or lean training is an advantage
- 10 to 15 years in production, including 4+ years managing a department or production block
KRAs and KPIs for a Production 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 |
|---|---|
| Output | Monthly production at 97 percent or more of the department plan |
| Productivity | Output per man-hour raised by the yearly target agreed with the plant manager |
| Rejection | Internal rejection rate below the monthly target set for the department |
| Downtime | Hours lost to breakdowns and changeovers lower every quarter than the quarter before |
| Department cost | Overtime and consumables cost within the monthly department budget |
| Safety | Zero lost time injuries and all safety observations closed within 7 days |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: SAP PP or plant ERP, Excel production MIS, OEE and downtime logs, Skill matrix, Kaizen and 5S audit sheets.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Plant Manager, General Manager Production, Works Manager
Interview questions for a Production Manager
- How would you raise output by 10 percent in your department without new machines?
- Your rejection rate doubled after a new batch of operators joined. What do you do?
- How do you decide how many operators to train on each machine?
- A supervisor keeps missing targets but his team likes him. How do you handle it?
- What do you look at in the morning meeting, and in what order?
- Explain how you would balance an assembly line with eight stations and uneven cycle times.
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What are the duties of a production manager in a factory?
A production manager plans and runs production in a department: setting shift targets, managing manpower and overtime, enforcing SOPs and safety, working with maintenance and quality on losses, controlling costs and leading productivity improvement. They report to the plant manager or GM production and are measured on output, quality, cost and safety.
What KPIs are used for a production manager?
Common KPIs are plan achievement, output per man-hour, OEE, internal rejection rate, downtime hours, overtime cost against budget and safety incidents. Many companies also count kaizen ideas implemented and operator training hours. Pick five or six that the production manager can actually influence and review them every month.
What is the career path after production manager?
Production managers usually move to plant manager, works manager or general manager production. Some shift into operations excellence, supply chain or plant head roles over time. Exposure to maintenance, quality and budgeting while still a production manager makes the step up much easier.