How to become an Industrial Product Manager

Industrial production managers supervise the day to day operations of manufacturing and related plants. They are also known as plant managers, who oversee the entire manufacturing plant or a specific area of production. They are also known as quality control managers as they analyse and identify defects in the products, find out the causes for it and fix them. They are responsible for carrying out quality control programs to make sure the finished product meets a specific level of quality.  Almost 80% of industrial production managers work in manufacturing industries. They coordinate, plan, and direct the activities used to create a wide range of goods, such as cars, computer equipment, or paper products. 

To take decisions to attain maximum efficiency from plant’s workers and equipment to meet production goals
To ensure that production stays on schedule and within budget
To hire, train, and evaluate workers
To analyze production data
To write routine production reports and communicate them with the higher authorities
To monitor a plant’s workers to ensure they meet performance and safety requirements
To develop methods to attain efficient production.
To determine whether new machines are needed, or whether overtime work is necessary
To troubleshoot and fix any issues in production.

Industrial production must have excellent communication and interpersonal skills to work in teams with interdepartmental managers as well as with the company’s senior-level management. Leadership skills will ensure a smooth production process. They must have the ability to motivate and guide other employees as well. They must also have good analytical and critical thinking to notice and identify the problems at the production plant and the ability to find apt solutions for them. Product managers must be highly decisive as time is money in production houses. This calls for time management skills as well. They must be able to meet production deadlines, managers must carefully manage their employees’ time as well as their own.