Top plant manager skills needed to get the job.

What are the top 3 traits or skills every plant manager must have to excel?

Can you suggest any tips or insights to develop your plant manager expertise?

From my perspective the top three may change from industry to industry, but in general:

1. Must be Proactive
2. Great Communicator (not in the 'Lee Iaccoca' sense, but able to give the tough message constructively - hence, motivating)
3. Conceptual - able to focus and direct efforts

Host said: What are the top 3 traits or skills every plant manager must have to excel?

Can you suggest any tips or insights to develop your plant manager expertise?

Must be able to know and demonstrate that caring for the safety and development of the staff is first

Must be their servant

Must be truthful in all communication. If this one thing is not clear enough you will lose any hope of having a team that can overcome anything and that is precisely why great teams exist, 1, 2, 3 of it is the crew must really know you care, will serve and will be honest- the rest is technical horses*** if anyone tells you differently and any improvement will be shortgained and not repeatable as behavior.

1. Must have good people skills.

2. Every one has a strength and a weakness, must fine every employees strenghts and utilize them to get the production done productively.

3. Simply good communication plant wide.

Host said: What are the top 3 traits or skills every plant manager must have to excel?

Can you suggest any tips or insights to develop your plant manager expertise?

Make it happen
Develop your crew
make most of your decisions, good decisions

It's very difficult to define a good plant manager with only three skills,
but I think based on my experience that all can be summarized in these ones:

1) Be a knowledgeable leader not a dictator
2) Be a good planner to set clear guidelines and objectives
3) Be good in empowering people

Everything else will fall in place.

Hello,

Although responses were submitted close to 2 yrs ago. I must say that I fully agree with you Mario as well as with Luis from Dover, New Jersey.

Mario Sanchez in San Diego, California said: It's very difficult to define a good plant manager with only three skills,
but I think based on my experience that all can be summarized in these ones:

1) Be a knowledgeable leader not a dictator
2) Be a good planner to set clear guidelines and objectives
3) Be good in empowering people

Everything else will fall in place.

I am a plant manager and here are the 3 skills required for this position:

first and foremost: he/she must achieve the company's goals along with his/hers personal goals in this position

Second: have the ability to train and excel in employee safety, quality, productivity and lean

Third: establish and control the culture with executive team and subordinate employees for the benefit of everyone.

Jorge

Regardless of the three most important skills, a plant manager must have a combination of traits that will separate him/her from the rest of the plant work force. I dare to say that a plant manager position is a combination of unique,a) business, b)techniques and c)human resources knowledge. The plant manager must be smart, educated, up to the latest in manufacturing techniques, technically competent but at the same time humble to learn from the employees and willing to contribute by sharing knowledge.