3 Difficult Aspects of Plant Leadership
Working in a job is difficult. Leadership brings another set of challenges. Leading employees in a manufacturing plant adds a whole new dynamic that most people will never experience. But if you work in a manufacturing leadership role then you are living it!
In this article, I discuss what I feel are the three most difficult aspects of plant leadership roles based on my 35 years of experience.
1. The Urgency of Demand
10:10AM Message from Bob the Planner: Order #90867 running on Machine #8 is HOT and needs to ship today! Please make it a priority!
10:11AM Call for Operator: Machine #8 is down.
Leadership roles outside of manufacturing are usually gifted with time. Company projects are longer term and so the required reaction time of a leader can be a day, week or even a month. In manufacturing, that reaction time gets squeezed into minutes or no more than hours.
Most manufacturing plants use an MRP or ERP system to manage customer demand. These planning systems establish production schedules, literally like clockwork. Raw materials are set to be delivered, products produced and orders ship to customers based on the established capacity and the production rates of each process within the plant. Because of this…like clockwork...
EVERY MANUFACTURING ISSUE NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED WITH URGENCY!
Managing daily demands in a manufacturing plant presents a unique set of challenges that require constant attention, coordination, and adaptability. One of the most pressing challenges is balancing production targets with workforce capacity and equipment availability. Unexpected machine breakdowns, employee absences, or supply chain delays can disrupt the schedule and impact delivery timelines.
Additionally, managing the workforce efficiently is critical. Supervisors must ensure that employees are trained, motivated, and working safely, while also handling real-time issues like absenteeism, quality deviations, or interpersonal conflicts. In fast-paced environments, it's easy for long-term improvement initiatives to take a back seat to immediate production needs. Customer orders are everyone’s A1 priority.
Quality control is another ongoing pressure. Managers must ensure that output meets standards without sacrificing productivity. This requires constant monitoring, swift decision-making, and collaboration between departments like production, maintenance, and quality assurance.
Communication across shifts, departments, and leadership is essential, yet often difficult due to time constraints and competing priorities. Managers must also juggle administrative tasks such as reporting, planning, and compliance with regulatory and safety requirements.
Ultimately, successfully managing these daily demands calls for strong leadership, clear processes, and the flexibility to respond to the unexpected while maintaining focus on efficiency, quality, and safety.
Urgency of demand is one difficult aspect of manufacturing leadership.
2. Resource Constraints
I’ve enjoyed a long career in manufacturing. Most of it, I've spent directly tied to a plant. However, there were a few years whereas I worked from a corporate headquarters. What I learned was that manufacturing plants get starved for resources compared other departments such as R&D, Marketing, Sales, Corporate Finance, etc.
Manufacturing costs are tightly controlled because companies set prices based on Gross Margin Percentage. This is essentially the difference between your selling price and your manufactured cost expressed as a percentage. Because of this, plants cannot easily add resources to eliminate bottlenecks. However, HQ departments can typically justify additional spending if it supports revenue levels, new product development or speed to market even if the payback isn't immediate. This model however seems to have plants juggling resources and in a constant bind. It's tough.
A lack of support resources and capital dollars in a manufacturing plant presents significant challenges that can hinder productivity, safety, and growth. Without adequate support personnel—such as maintenance technicians, engineers, or quality control staff—frontline teams may struggle to resolve issues promptly, leading to prolonged downtime, inefficiencies, and increased strain on existing workers. When staff are stretched thin, proactive maintenance, process improvement, and training are often neglected, which impacts long-term operational performance.
Limited capital funding further compounds these issues. Aging equipment and outdated technology may remain in service far beyond their optimal lifespan, increasing the risk of breakdowns and quality defects. Without the ability to invest in automation, expansion, or process upgrades, the plant may fall behind competitors who have the means to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Additionally, safety improvements or regulatory compliance upgrades may be delayed, potentially exposing the facility to risks.
These financial constraints also affect workforce morale. Employees working with insufficient tools or unreliable equipment can become frustrated, leading to lower engagement and higher turnover. In this environment, managers must get creative—prioritizing critical needs, optimizing what resources they have, and making a strong case to executive leadership for strategic investments that can deliver measurable returns.
Resource constraints are a second difficult aspect of manufacturing leadership.
3. Managing Employee Performance
Addressing employee performance in a manufacturing plant presents several challenges for managers. The fast-paced, production-driven environment leaves little time for in-depth performance conversations. Managers often focus on meeting daily output goals, making it difficult to consistently monitor individual performance or provide timely feedback. When issues arise, they may go unaddressed until they impact safety, quality, or production targets.
Additionally, manufacturing roles often involve repetitive tasks, making it hard to differentiate between disengagement and uncontrollable process issues. Managers must carefully assess whether underperformance stems from subpar materials, missing materials, tooling problems, missing tools, mechanical issues, poor work instructions, lack of training, unclear expectations, or actual employee job performance. Misdiagnosing the root cause can lead to ineffective interventions or further disengagement.
Confronting performance issues also requires strong communication and conflict resolution skills, which not all managers are formally trained in. These conversations can be uncomfortable, especially in tight-knit teams where personal relationships exist. Managers may avoid them altogether to preserve harmony, inadvertently allowing problems to grow.
Cultural and generational differences in the workforce can add complexity, requiring a nuanced approach to motivation and accountability. Lastly, managers must balance fairness and consistency with individual circumstances, ensuring that corrective actions align with company policies and values. Successfully addressing performance requires empathy, clarity, and a proactive commitment to employee development.
Managing employee performance is a third difficult aspect of manufacturing leadership.
Conclusion
Being a leader in a manufacturing environment is a very challenging role. It has its own unique difficulties. If you are a leader at any level in a manufacturing plant, I take my hat off to you. It’s not easy. It is rewarding none-the-less. Make sure that you take time to reflect on your accomplishments. In a plant, you can’t look at your short-term results to get that sense of accomplishment. You need to look at the long-term. For example, look at your results and the plant dynamics three months ago, six months ago, a year ago and two years ago. How’s the view? Did results improve over the long-term?
Manufacturing can be overwhelming. Looking at what needs yet to be accomplished can take your breath away. Looking back at the short-term doesn’t provide relief. Looking back over the long-term does. Make sure you occasionally look back and feel good about how far you’ve come. Tools for the Trenches is here for you to support your future progress and development. Reach out to me and lets work together to make you and your plant optimally successful!
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