Many businesses require manufacturing specialists with solid mechanical reasoning skills for their plants, factories, and assembly lines since they are an indispensable part of the assembly process.

But how can you hire a good manufacturing specialist? What kinds of qualifications does a candidate need? What salary expectations will they have? 

This article will answer all of those questions, starting with the fundamental one: What does a manufacturing specialist do?

• ✅ Sign up for your free plan today and find the best manufacturing specialists with TestGorilla

The manufacturing specialist job role 

A manufacturing specialist, sometimes known as a production specialist or manufacturing process specialist, is a person who is responsible for the quality of products produced on the assembly line.

They ensure that these products are made correctly and safely. A production specialist usually works on the assembly line, where they can monitor production and ensure that the goods are fit for purpose. 

They can also work on other tasks, such as identifying and fixing problems in the manufacturing process. It’s not uncommon for a manufacturing specialist to improve the effectiveness of the production process. These changes can vary from minor things like equipment adjustments to major changes such as overhauling the entire manufacturing process. 

Manufacturing specialist salary

A manufacturing process specialist’s salary ranges from $40,000 to $59,000 per year. The average salary for a manufacturing specialist in the US is $43,921 per year. 

The best-paid manufacturing process specialists can make more than $70,000, not including salary bonuses and additional perks. 

The median hourly wage of a production specialist is $22.60. It can increase to more than $40 an hour if they have over 10 years of experience. 

Manufacturing specialist skills and responsibilities

If you’re looking to hire a manufacturing process specialist, you need to ensure that they have the necessary skills. Also, when crafting the job description, you need to include all of the duties and responsibilities of the role. These duties may differ depending on the specifics of your business, but generally, they include:: 

• Controlling the production process equipment. A production specialist needs to calibrate the equipment so that it operates efficiently.
• Assisting managers by filling out reports and providing production statistics. 
• Providing support to minimize hazards in the workplace. The manufacturing process specialist must ensure that all equipment and processes meet the latest safety regulations.  
• Learning about and applying new technologies and processes that could improve productivity. 
• Providing quality control for the products. 
• Training new employees on the proper use of machines and safety standards.
• Communicating with suppliers to ensure a constant supply of manufacturing materials. 
• Routinely checking the equipment for any malfunctions or defects. 

Critical manufacturing specialist skills

A manufacturing process specialist needs to have the following skills to succeed in the role: 

• Communication skills: A production specialist requires excellent oral and written communication skills. They have to communicate with vendors, colleagues, and managers and must be able to communicate clearly and concisely to relay essential information
• Problem-solving: A manufacturing process specialist should have excellent problem-solving skills since they will be expected to handle a variety of issues relating to equipment malfunctions and the production process.  
• Technical skills: These are a must-have for a production specialist. They should have knowledge of and experience with assembly lines, computer-aided design and manufacturing technologies, computer numerical control (CNC) machines, and general warehouse operations. 

Here’s how TestGorilla can help you assess manufacturing specialists

If you need to hire a manufacturing specialist, it’s essential to ensure that you hire the right person, which isn’t always a simple task. It’s crucial to avoid making costly bad hires that force you to restart the hiring process from square one.  

Fortunately, there’s an objective, accurate, and easy solution to your hiring challenges: pre-employment skills testing.

We’ve helped more than 6,000 companies implement pre-employment assessments in their hiring processes. Skills-based testing can:

• Reduce bias. When you receive 250 applications for an open job role, you’ll need to sift through all of those candidates to shortlist the best ones. However, you won’t be sure if they’re the best candidates or if your choices were affected by unconscious bias. When you use a pre-employment test, you remove bias from this stage of the hiring process.
• Remove CV reliance. There’s no need to rely on CVs when you use skills testing. You can simply send the test with a single click to all of the candidates and wait for the results. Best of all, the test results are numerical, so you can easily compare candidates to see who did better.
• Provide a scalable solution. With pre-employment tests, it makes no difference whether you receive 50 or 650 applications for a job since you can send the test to all of your applicants instantly.

Don’t leave your hiring process to chance – use a pre-employment test like the CNC Machinist (Metric Measurements) test and hire the best candidate. Sign up for your free TestGorilla plan today, or book a free 30-minute live demo with a member of our sales team.