Industrial Production Managers

Agriculture, Food and Natural ResourcesO*NET 11-3051.00United States

Plan, direct, or coordinate the work activities and resources necessary for manufacturing products in accordance with cost, quality, and quantity specifications.

COMING SOON See related ASU learning
Median annual earnings
$123,808

50th percentile, United States

Projected change
+6%

2025 to 2035

Typical education
High school diploma or less

34.7% of the workforce

Employment
252.58K jobs

Growing to 267.64K by 2035

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ASU learning related to this career

These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.

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The work

What industrial production managers do

Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.

  • 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.
  • Set and monitor product standards, examining samples of raw products or directing testing during processing, to ensure finished products are of prescribed quality.
  • 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.
  • Develop budgets or approve expenditures for supplies, materials, or human resources, ensuring that materials, labor, or equipment are used efficiently to meet production targets.
  • Review plans and confer with research or support staff to develop new products or processes.
  • 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.

Pay and outlook

What the job pays and where it is heading

Annual earnings range

Reported earnings by percentile, United States

10th percentile
$75,887
25th percentile
$95,923
50th percentile
$123,808
75th percentile
$160,054
90th percentile
$205,416

The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $123,808 and half earn less.

Employment outlook

2025 to 2035 projection

+6%average or slower
2025252,576 jobs
2035 projected267,636 jobs

15,060 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.

Preparation

Education levels

What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.

High school diploma or less
34.7%
Bachelor's degree
28.3%
Certificate
16.2%
Some college
11.5%
Associate degree
8.1%
Master's or Professional degree
1.2%

Skills

Skills employers ask for

Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.

  • Continuous Improvement Process
  • Lean Manufacturing
  • Manufacturing Operations
  • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
  • Supply Chain
  • Process Improvement
  • Operational Excellence
  • Production Management
  • Operations Management
  • Project Management
  • Manufacturing Processes
  • Production Planning
  • Quality Management
  • Auditing
  • Workflow Management
  • Six Sigma Methodology
  • Good Manufacturing Practices
  • Environment Health And Safety
  • New Product Development
  • Production Process

How the work gets done

Core competencies

Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.

Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Coordination
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Management of Personnel Resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Time Management
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Learning Strategies
Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Systems Analysis
Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Active Learning
Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Complex Problem Solving
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Writing
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Management of Financial Resources
Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
Systems Evaluation
Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Mathematics
Using mathematics to solve problems.
Management of Material Resources
Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
Negotiation
Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.

In the market

Job titles and employers

Recent job postings in United States

Common job titles

  1. 01Plant Managers6,194 postings
  2. 02Production Managers3,381 postings
  3. 03Manufacturing Managers2,733 postings
  4. 04Directors of Manufacturing1,177 postings
  5. 05Manufacturing Operations Managers738 postings
  6. 06Assistant Managers532 postings
  7. 07Manufacturing Production Managers493 postings
  8. 08Manufacturing Program Managers361 postings
  9. 09Manufacturing Project Managers351 postings
  10. 10Value Stream Managers328 postings
  11. 11Directors of Manufacturing Operations304 postings
  12. 12Manufacturing Plant Managers288 postings
  13. 13Manufacturing General Managers265 postings
  14. 14Manufacturing Supply Chain Managers265 postings
  15. 15Manufacturing Industrial Engineers262 postings
  16. 16Associate Directors of Manufacturing209 postings
  17. 17Manufacturing Excellence Managers206 postings
  18. 18Manufacturing Product Managers199 postings
  19. 19Manufacturing Leads145 postings
  20. 20Plant Directors143 postings

Top employers

  1. 01GPAC556 postings
  2. 02GE Aerospace295 postings
  3. 03Accenture206 postings
  4. 04Boeing199 postings
  5. 05Jmj Phillip Group189 postings
  6. 06Alvarez & Marsal171 postings
  7. 07PricewaterhouseCoopers166 postings
  8. 08Eli Lilly160 postings
  9. 09Merck & Co.148 postings
  10. 10Northrop Grumman123 postings
  11. 11Otsuka America112 postings
  12. 12Actalent110 postings
  13. 13Addison Group106 postings
  14. 14Eaton Corporation103 postings
  15. 15Amazon102 postings
  16. 16Pond & Company101 postings
  17. 17Lockheed Martin99 postings
  18. 18PageGroup98 postings
  19. 19General Motors95 postings
  20. 20Blue Origin92 postings

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