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Manufacturing Manager

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Kim Wolf chose manufacturing because she didn't want to sit at a drafting board working alone most of the time. "I get really energized by being with other people," she says.

Wolf says manufacturing managers should get satisfaction from helping develop other people and seeing them succeed.

"I've always really focused on that, and when you do that the results of the plant efficiencies and reducing waste and improving safety and all of those things come along," says Wolf.

"The most rewarding aspects are watching the people you manage grow and succeed," says Sonja Hughes. She has more than 20 years of experience in manufacturing and production management.

"The most interesting aspects are implementing new assembly lines, new equipment, or new products. There's so much involved in introducing something new, but it is exciting and challenging and rewarding when things go well."

Hughes advises manufacturing companies that produce specialty textiles, digital cables, circuit boards, high performance coatings and office furniture systems.

"I got started in a manufacturing environment almost 40 years ago as an industrial engineering technician through on-the-job training and I was hooked," says Hughes. "I learned to value all the efforts of the people involved in making things, plus the manufacturing processes were fascinating."

Hughes says people skills are essential for manufacturing managers.

"Good interpersonal skills are essential for a manager of any type," she says. "The old autocratic 'my way or the highway' does not work with today's workers. Knowing how to talk to and interact with people at all levels is very important.

"Problem solving skills, critical thinking skills, conflict resolution skills, organizational and time management skills are also important," Hughes adds. "You have to love a challenge and welcome feedback positive and negative to be successful."

If you have these skills, you can find yourself on the path toward a rewarding career in manufacturing management. It won't happen overnight, though. You need to take math and science courses in high school and college, and get an entry-level job in manufacturing first.

"Don't expect to walk into a manufacturing manager's position -- you must work for it and earn it by demonstrating good people skills and an aptitude for getting things done," says Hughes.

Manufacturing consultant Bill Waddell loves the feeling of creating something new.

"At the end, when you see that pile of things that didn't exist that morning, and you had something to do with making them, almost creating something out of nothing, that was a feeling that hooked me and there was no turning back," says Waddell.

"I never wanted to do anything else but create things, to make things. Tangible things that made a difference in people's lives, that were out there being used."

Waddell says a manufacturing plant is a dynamic place to work. Don't expect a lot of routine in this career!

"It's a very dynamic environment, and you're communicating all day long with people, making decisions and getting information, and you have to be a very, very good communicator," he says.

"You have to be able to convey information to people very concisely but very clearly. You never have much time, and so you need to be able to get to the point to be able to let a lot of people know what's going on, almost simultaneously, and that takes very, very good communication skills."

Waddell has made lots of different products throughout his career. But he always cared about what he was making.

"The important thing, and what's been really successful for me, is that in all the industries that I've worked in, I had an interest in the product -- at least an intellectual curiosity," says Waddell. "I cared about the product.

"And that's something that I'd really tell [young people] -- to find something that you're interested in, whatever it is, and get involved in how they make it. If you know about and you care about the product, then you can be pretty effective in making it."

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