Industrial Production Managers
Plan, direct, or coordinate the work activities and resources necessary for manufacturing products in accordance with cost, quality, and quantity specifications.
246,250 people do this job in the US. $126,060 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 72%
- 20%
- 9%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 18%. Today's estimate: 24%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 21 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop or implement production tracking or quality control systems, analyzing production, quality control, maintenance, or other operational reports to detect production problems.Done daily by most who do it. | 17% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 3.1 work days | 7%Half by Nov 2027 | |
| Direct or coordinate production, processing, distribution, or marketing activities of industrial organizations.Done daily by most who do it. | 15% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Initiate or coordinate inventory or cost control programs.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 13% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | 8%Half by Sep 2027 | |
| Optimize operational costs and productivity consistent with safety and environmental rules and regulations. | 6% | 5 h1.7 h to 2.1 work days | 15%Half by Jun 2027 | |
| Develop budgets or approve expenditures for supplies, materials, or human resources, ensuring that materials, labor, or equipment are used efficiently to meet production targets.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 3.3 h50 min to 1.7 work days | 21%Half by May 2027 | |
| Review processing schedules or production orders to make decisions concerning inventory requirements, staffing requirements, work procedures, or duty assignments, considering budgetary limitations and time constraints.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.5 h | 97%Half by now | |
| Set and monitor product standards, examining samples of raw products or directing testing during processing, to ensure finished products are of prescribed quality.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Review operations and confer with technical or administrative staff to resolve production or processing problems.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 77%Half by now | |
| Conduct site audits to ensure adherence to safety and environmental regulations. | 4% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Develop or enforce procedures for normal operation of manufacturing systems. | 4% | 3.3 h50 min to 1.3 work days | 25%Half by Mar 2027 | |
| Implement operational and emergency procedures. | 3% | 2.5 h50 min to 1 work day | 40%Half by Dec 2026 | |
| Hire, train, evaluate, or discharge staff or resolve personnel grievances.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- General and Operations Managers19% now, 43% by 2028
- Quality Control Systems Managers32% now, 81% by 2028
- Biomass Power Plant Managers28% now, 67% by 2028
- Biofuels Production Managers19% now, 57% by 2028
- Supply Chain Managers8% now, 81% by 2028
- Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers14% now, 67% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).