Plant Manager
What will I be doing?
Whether it’s a 2,000 employee packing plant or five person custom cutting operation, every company needs a Plant Manager. He or she is responsible for leading, monitoring, directing and coordinating activities to ensure optimum efficiency and economy of operations. Position responsibilities vary from operation to operation depending on size and the way the company is managed. Plant manager is the key individual to ensure all systems and processed work for the safe and efficient operation of the organization.
A plant manager’s duties may include:
- Ensuring the safety of the employees and the environment of the facility.
- Compliance with company, local, provincial and federal regulations, Good Management Practices, sanitation, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) guidelines and other appropriate programs designed to safeguard both employees and customers.
- Work closely with maintenance personnel on equipment issues, maintenance and preventive maintenance.
- Develops and implements organizational policies and goals and executes these through the use of effective teamwork throughout the facility
- Manage activities of multiple plant departments and depending on the type of meat processing plant this may include: harvesting, fabrication, value-added processing, finance, health and safety, human resources, quality control, warehouse and logistics.
- Interacts with administrative support personnel, reviews daily activity, operations, sales and inventory reports to determine changes required in the facility to improve productivity, quality, and efficiency of operations.
What training do I need?
Plant management generally requires both a thorough knowledge of the industry’s fields, concepts, practices, procedures and some business or management training. Seven to 10 years of experience in the field or in a related area and a post-secondary education is an asset. Requirements for smaller operations are less. Consider enrolling at one of Canada’s post secondary meat training programs to gain a meat cutting certificate; helping you move up more quickly in your career. You can also get started in the industry just by seeking employment and training in retail establishments.
What kind of salary and working conditions can I expect?
Meat Industry Plant Managers typically earn between $90,000 and $110,000 per year in larger operations. Smaller operations pay proportionately less.
What are my career options?
While individual requirements for plant management vary from industry to industry, the principles are similar. Knowledge and experience are transportable not only to other meat processing operations but even to plants outside the sector. An understanding of plant operation and the ability to understand and analyze the complicated systems of supply, labour, ordering, processing and shipping are valuable in any plant operation in any industry. The specific requirements of sanitation and regulations are valuable in other areas of the food industry