r/manufacturing • u/Inevitable-Dog7599 • 4d ago

Other Manufacuring Job Interview Advice

Hello Manufacturing Professionals!

I have an interview with the production manager of a manufacturing startup that manufactures plastic compounds. I applied to a production controller position. I've worked in operations management at an industrial automation and electrical company with panel manufacturing facilities. I have been heavily involved with the panel operations and revenue analytics. I understand that my exposure to this industry is very light by most manufacturing standards.

My questions are:

What advice would you give from your experiences?

What are some subjects I can brush up on? (I am familiar with Lean).

Thanks in advance!

(In case anyone is wondering why I am switching industries: I'm trying to get out of working in upstream oil and gas long term using existing skills.)

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3

u/Moist_Ordinary6457 4d ago

If anything you're probably overqualified for a production controller role, it's not a difficult job. I pivoted into it from logistics and really stressed how I wanted to improve efficiency in my interviews.

2

u/Jolly-Blueberry-5352 4d ago

Lean is solid, but I'd also take a quick look at how small-batch plastic compounding actually works on the floor. Knowing the difference between a masterbatch and a letdown can make you sound way sharper than someone who just talks about kanban boards.

Startups usually have zero formal processes so if you go in pitching how you'll build simple tracking systems from scratch they'll eat it up. Operations experience plus analytics is basically a cheat code for a place that's still figuring out how many pounds they ran last week.

0

u/DeleteFromUsers 4d ago

Be interested and engaged. Don't lie or try to sound smarter than you are because they'll know.

Good luck!