Industrial Production Managers
What Industrial Production Managers Do
Plan, direct, or coordinate the work activities and resources necessary for manufacturing products in accordance with cost, quality, and quantity specifications.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- 5 years or more
- On-the-job training
- None
- Self-employed
- 2.6%
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 4 of 5Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Experience
- A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
- Education
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
- Job training
- Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Production and Processingimportance 4.4/5
- Administration and Managementimportance 4.1/5
- Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.6/5
- Education and Trainingimportance 3.4/5
- Mathematicsimportance 3.4/5
- Personnel and Human Resourcesimportance 3.4/5
- English Languageimportance 3.3/5
- Mechanicalimportance 3.3/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- E-Mail4.9/5
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.8/5
- Contact With Others4.7/5
- Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets4.6/5
- Telephone Conversations4.5/5
- Health and Safety of Other Workers4.5/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Chefs and Head Cooks95% skill match
- Construction Managers94% skill match
- Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers94% skill match
- Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria92% skill match
- Food Service Managers92% skill match
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers92% skill match
- Facilities Managers91% skill match
- Cooks, Restaurant91% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Coordinationimportance 4.0/5
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 4.0/5
- Time Managementimportance 3.9/5
- Management of Personnel Resourcesimportance 3.9/5
- Systems Analysisimportance 3.8/5
- Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.6/5
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.5/5
- Systems Evaluationimportance 3.4/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
Other Software Used
- ABB Optimize IT Predict & Control
- AVEVA InTouch HMI
- Apple Final Cut Pro
- Citect IIM
- CitectSCADA Reports
- Clockware
- Computer integrated manufacturing CIM software
- Computer integrated manufacturing CIM time manager software
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Leadership Orientation
- Dependability
- Attention to Detail
- Achievement Orientation
- Initiative
- Cautiousness
- Stress Tolerance
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- EnterprisingHigh
- ConventionalHigh
- RealisticMedium
- InvestigativeLow
- SocialLow
- ArtisticLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where industrial production managers make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Elkhart-Goshen, IN4.57× national avg
- 2Columbus, IN4.54× national avg
- 3Bay City, MI3.12× national avg
- 4Bowling Green, KY2.97× national avg
- 5Oshkosh-Neenah, WI2.94× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- General and Operations ManagersLateral Move
- Construction ManagersLateral Move
- Facilities ManagersLateral Move
- First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating WorkersCareer Change
See the full career path from Industrial Production Managers →
Related Education Programs
Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.
Business Administration and Management, General
- University of Phoenix-Arizona (Phoenix, AZ)grads earn ~$69,425
- Southern New Hampshire University (Manchester, NH)grads earn ~$75,423
- Western Governors University (Salt Lake City, UT)grads earn ~$98,950
- Valencia College (Orlando, FL)
- Southern New Hampshire University (Manchester, NH)grads earn ~$95,086
Business/Commerce, General
- Indiana University-Bloomington (Bloomington, IN)grads earn ~$105,583
- Indiana University-Bloomington (Bloomington, IN)grads earn ~$161,345
- Northeastern University (Boston, MA)grads earn ~$113,620
- University of Missouri-Columbia (Columbia, MO)grads earn ~$84,534
- Cuesta College (San Luis Obispo, CA)
Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management
- Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (Boston, MA)grads earn ~$141,852
- Northeastern University Professional Programs (Boston, MA)grads earn ~$136,474
- University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)grads earn ~$86,586
- University of Maryland Baltimore (Baltimore, MD)grads earn ~$148,993
- Nova Southeastern University (Fort Lauderdale, FL)