Skip to content
man bot

Managers · code 1321

Manufacturing managers

Manufacturing managers plan, direct and coordinate activities concerned with the production of goods, the production and distribution of electricity, gas and water, and the collection, treatment and disposal of waste. They may manage the production departments of large enterprises or be the managers of small manufacturing companies. Tasks include - (a) determining, implementing and monitoring production strategies, policies and plans; (b) planning details of production activities in terms of output quality and quantity, cost, time available and labour requirements; (c) controlling the operation of production plant and quality procedures through planning of maintenance, designation of operating hours and supply of parts and tools; (d) establishing and managing budgets, monitoring production output and costs, and adjusting processes and resources to minimize costs; (e) consulting with and informing other managers about production matters; (f) overseeing the acquisition and installation of new plant and equipment; (g) controlling the preparation of production records and reports; (h) coordinating the implementation of occupational health and safety requirements; (i) identifying business opportunities and determining products to be manufactured; (j) researching and implementing regulatory and statutory requirements affecting manufacturing operations and the environment; (k) overseeing the provision of quotations for the manufacture of specialized goods and establishing contracts with customers and suppliers; (l) overseeing the selection, training and performance of staff. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Manufacturer - Manufacturing manager - Production and operations manager (manufacturing) Some related occupations classified elsewhere: - Production supervisor (manufacturing) - 3122

A few tasks are affected, but the heart of the job isn't. It ranks 309 of 427 for holding up against AI.

Also known as

  • manufacturing manager

Job titles from the EU's ESCO list. Search for any of them on the jobs page and you'll end up here.

62.1
Holds up
against AI Minimal Exposure

AI could take on 37.9 of 100, on average
so it holds up at 100 − 37.9 = 62.1

That's the whole sum, and you can check it against the ILO's study.

42.2
How hands-on
out of 100

From O*NET, averaged across 6 US jobs

30.5
How fiddly
and cramped

finger skill 34.5 · hand skill 30.6 · cramped spaces 26.4 · averaged

Kind of hands-on work · hands-on under 50 Less than half hands-on

Less than half of this job is hands-on. Robots still matter, but for a smaller part of the work, so we don't sort it any further.

estimated O*NET 31.0 BLS occupational crosswalk chain ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC (Aug 2012, rev. Jun 2015); 2010 to 2018 SOC (Nov 2017); O*NET-SOC 2019 taxonomy data 0.7-work-setting measures chosen by Frey & Osborne (2017) · the grouping is a sorting, not a measurement

What this number leaves out This job rates 42.2 out of 100 for how hands-on it is. The score above only looks at AI tools, not robots, but for work this far from the physical that matters less.

The tasks behind the score

The score is the average of these. A job is really a bundle of tasks, and an average can hide how uneven that bundle is.

The task AI could do most of scores 52, while the average is 37.9. A big gap means some of this job is wide open to AI and some of it barely at all. That's quite different from a job where everything sits somewhere in the middle, even when the averages match.

  1. 52

    Controlling the preparation of production records and reports

    Medium
  2. 51

    Establishing and managing budgets, monitoring production output and costs, and adjusting processes and resources to minimize costs

    Medium
  3. 48.5

    Planning details of production activities in terms of output quality and quantity, cost, time available and labour requirements

    Low
  4. 44

    Determining, implementing and monitoring production strategies, policies and plans

    Low
  5. 43.5

    Consulting with and informing other managers about production matters

    Low
  6. 40.5

    Identifying business opportunities and determining products to be manufactured

    Low
  7. 35

    Overseeing the provision of quotes for the manufacture of specialized goods and establishing contracts with customers and suppliers

    Low
  8. 32.8

    Overseeing the selection, training and performance of staff.

    Low
  9. 32.5

    Controlling the operation of production plant and quality procedures through planning of maintenance, designation of operating hours and supply of parts and tools

    Low
  10. 31.5

    Researching and implementing regulatory and statutory requirements affecting manufacturing operations and the environment

    Low
  11. 26.5

    Coordinating the implementation of occupational health and safety requirements

    Low
  12. 16.8

    Overseeing the acquisition and installation of new plant and equipment

    Very Low

12 tasks · the High to Very Low labels are the ILO's

from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.7-work-setting

Helped, or replaced?

The score above can't tell a tool that makes you faster from one that does the task instead of you. Jobs and Skills Australia looked at those two things separately, and this is their result, matched to this job.

3 Australian jobs match this one, and we've simply averaged them. Treat the numbers as a rough guide.

AI helps you
70.7
AI does it for you
41.7

Helping wins by 29 points.

estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.7-work-setting matched to Australian jobs 1334, 1335, 1399

Compared with similar jobs

There are 30 jobs in the “Managers” group, averaging 64. This one is below that.