Profession wood production supervisor

Wood production supervisors monitor processes involved in the conversion of felled trees into usable lumber. They follow the production process and make quick decisions to resolve problems. ​They ensure that production targets, such as quantity and quality of products, timeliness and cost-effectiveness, can be achieved.

Personality Type

• Enterprising / Realistic

Knowledge

• Quality standards

  The national and international requirements, specifications and guidelines to ensure that products, services and processes are of good quality and fit for purpose.

• Woodworking processes

  Steps in the processing of wood for the manufacturing of wooden articles and types of machines used for these processes such as drying, shaping, assembling and surface finishing.

Skills

• Ensure quality of final product

  Ensure that finished products meet or exceed company specifications.

• Manage resources

  Manage personnel, machinery and equipment in order to optimise production results, in accordance with the policies and plans of the company.

• Coordinate communication within a team

  Collect contact info for all team members and decide on modes of communication.

• Communicate problems to senior colleagues

  Communicate and give feedback to senior colleagues in the event of problems or non-conformities.

• Oversee production requirements

  Oversee production processes and prepare all the resources needed to maintain an efficient and continuous flow of production.

• Analyse the need for technical resources

  Define and make a list of the required resources and equipment based on the technical needs of the production.

• Report on production results

  Report on production to the hierarchy. Mention a specified set of parameters, such as amount produced and timing, and any issues or unexpected occurrences.

• Create solutions to problems

  Solve problems which arise in planning, prioritising, organising, directing/facilitating action and evaluating performance. Use systematic processes of collecting, analysing, and synthesising information to evaluate current practice and generate new understandings about practice.

• Wear appropriate protective gear

  Wear relevant and necessary protective gear, such as protective goggles or other eye protection, hard hats, safety gloves.

• Evaluate employees work

  Evaluate the need for labour for the work ahead. Evaluate the performance of the team of workers and inform superiors. Encourage and support the employees in learning, teach them techniques and check the application to ensure product quality and labour productivity.

• Keep records of work progress

  Maintain records of the progress of the work including time, defects, malfunctions, etc.

• Liaise with managers

  Liaise with managers of other departments ensuring effective service and communication, i.e. sales, planning, purchasing, trading, distribution and technical.

• Meet productivity targets

  Devise methods to determine improvement in productivity, adjusting the goals to be reached and the necessary time and resources.

• Follow production schedule

  Follow production schedule taking into account all requirements, times and needs. This schedule outlines what individual commodities must be produced in each time period and encapsulates various concerns like production, staffing, inventory, etc. It is usually linked to manufacturing where the plan indicates when and how much of each product will be demanded. Utilise all the information in the actual implementation of the plan.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB