Description
Leather goods production supervisors monitor and coordinate day-to-day production activities of a leather goods manufacturing plant. They oversee quality control as well as manage the leather goods production staff. The work also involves organising the work flow as well as taking care of production plan and costs.
Duties
Here are some of the duties of a leather goods production supervisor:
- Monitoring and coordinating day-to-day production activities of a leather goods manufacturing plant
- Overseeing quality control and managing the leather goods production staff
- Ensuring that the leather goods production process remains smooth and efficient by organizing workflows and monitoring staff
- Directing, training, and assisting lower-level production workers
- Preparing production reports and compiling production records
- Ensuring that all equipment is functioning properly and preparing work schedules
- Conducting reviews for personnel performance and evaluating employee performance
- Conferring with management or subordinates to resolve worker problems, complaints, or grievances
- Advising others on ways to improve processes or products.
Other titles
The following job titles also refer to leather goods production supervisor:
leather goods closing room supervisor
leather goods production inspector
leather product manufacturing foreman
leather product manufacturing forewoman
leather goods finishing room supervisor
leather tannery supervisor
leather goods production forewoman
leather goods production foreman
leather products supervisor
leather goods cutting room supervisor
Working conditions
Leather goods production supervisors work in manufacturing facilities or workshops dedicated to leather goods production. The work environment may involve exposure to noise, dust, and chemicals used in the leather manufacturing process. Safety measures and personal protective equipment (PPE) are essential to ensure worker safety. The role may require standing or walking for extended periods and occasional lifting or carrying of materials or finished products. Working hours may vary, including shifts or overtime to meet production demands or deadlines.
Minimum qualifications
The educational requirements for a leather goods production supervisor may vary depending on the employer and the complexity of the production processes. A high school diploma or equivalent is typically required, although some employers may prefer candidates with post-secondary education or vocational training in manufacturing, production management, or a related field. Previous experience in leather goods production or a similar supervisory role is essential to have a comprehensive understanding of production processes, quality control, and industry standards. Strong leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills are necessary to effectively supervise a production team and ensure smooth operations. Proficiency in computer applications and knowledge of manufacturing software systems may also be beneficial.
ISCO skill level
ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:
- the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
- the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
- the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.
Leather goods production supervisor is a Skill level 3 occupation.
Leather goods production supervisor career path
Similar occupations
These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to leather goods production supervisor.
leather goods manufacturing technician
leather goods quality control laboratory technician
leather goods quality technician
leather goods product developer
footwear quality control laboratory technician
Long term prospects
These occupations require some skills and knowledge of leather goods production supervisor. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of leather goods production supervisor with a significant experience and/or extensive training.
leather goods industrial engineer
leather goods quality manager
leather goods production manager
leather goods product development manager
footwear quality manager
Essential knowledge and skills
Essential knowledge
This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of leather goods production supervisor.
- Leather goods manufacturing processes: The processes, technology and machinery involved in the leather goods manufacturing.
- Leather goods components: The various procedures and methods in the processing of leather materials and leather goods components like manufacturability and properties.
- Leather goods quality: The quality specifications of materials, processes, and final products, the most common defects in leather, quick tests procedures, laboratory tests procedures and standards, and the adequate equipment for quality checks.
- Manual cutting processes for leather: Cutting rules, variance of the leather properties on its surface and elongation directions of the footwear pieces.
- Leather goods materials: The wide range of materials used in leather goods production: leather, leather substitutes (synthetics or artificial materials), textile, etc; the way of distinguishing among various materials based on their properties, advantages and limitations.
Essential skills and competences
These skills are necessary for the role of leather goods production supervisor.
- Purchase raw material supplies: Manage logistics of purchasing supplies of the raw materials for the tannery to ensure efficient operations of the tannery and meet clients’ requirements
- Manage staff: Manage employees and subordinates, working in a team or individually, to maximise their performance and contribution. Schedule their work and activities, give instructions, motivate and direct the workers to meet the company objectives. Monitor and measure how an employee undertakes their responsibilities and how well these activities are executed. Identify areas for improvement and make suggestions to achieve this. Lead a group of people to help them achieve goals and maintain an effective working relationship among staff.
- Apply footwear and leather goods quality control techniques: Apply quality control in footwear and leather goods. Analyse the material, component or model using relevant quality criteria. Compare the material and other components received from the suppliers, or the final product, to standards. Use visual observation and report findings. Control the quantity of leather in the warehouse. Submit components to laboratory control test when necessary. Define the corrective measures when called for.
- Apply methods for footwear and leather goods manufacturing: Produce technical specifications such as drawings, cards, and sheets for the stages of the production of footwear and leather goods. Analyse the technical sheets, defining the working methods. List the operation sequences and distribute the work for the manufacturing of each model.
- Calculate the productivity of the production of footwear and leather goods: Analyse the footwear and leather goods production capacity and collect information concerning human and technological resources. Follow the production process and make adjustments to the work methods and operative times according to the technical specification of the model, human resources and equipment. Optimise the production lines and increase the productivity.
- Plan supply chain logistics for footwear and leather goods: Plan, organise and monitor logistics and supply chain activities based on the footwear or leather goods company’s main objectives regarding quality, cost, delivery, and flexibility.
- Manage production of footwear or leather goods: Plan the production of footwear or leather goods according to the company’s objectives, deadlines and available resources. Distribute, coordinate and control all activities and the various production phases using information from technical sheets and organisation and methods. Strive to optimise quality, productivity and safety. Collaborate with all linked departments. Report on production, quality, productivity deviations and propose corrective measures.
- Use communication techniques: Apply techniques of communication which allow interlocutors to better understand each other and communicate accurately in the transmission of messages.
- Plan leather goods manufacture: Design the manufacturing process for each model of leather goods. Plan the stages of manufacturing and operations for production. Plan the usage of materials and leather components. Select machines and equipment. Plan the workforce. Calculate direct and indirect costs associated with manufacturing. Plan the maintenance of machines and equipment.
- Monitor operations in the leather industry: Operational monitoring refers to collecting key system performance of leather production at periodic intervals or at the end of some specific phases of the leather process. This information gives a basis for observing, detecting and recording the operation of the machines and systems. The activity provides also the critical data to check the correct performance of the process and to monitor quality and throughput against product and production requirements.
- Develop manufacturing recipes: Describe in detail the set of activities necessary for the proper operation and management of processes (amount of chemical products, planning of timing and processing, monitoring).
- Manage footwear quality systems: Manage the company quality system. Create or elaborate the quality manual. Carry out the established requirements and objectives included in the quality policy. Foster internal and external communication, including customer satisfaction follow-up. Define and control the implementation of corrective and preventive measures. Foster the continuous improvement of the quality system and quality manual.
- Manage environmental impact of operations: Manage the interaction with and impact on the environment by companies. Identify and assess environmental impacts of the production process and related services, and regulate a reduction of the effects on the environment and on people. Organise action plans and monitor any indicators of improvement.
- Execute working instructions: Understand, interpret and properly apply work instructions regarding different tasks in the workplace.
- Measure working time in footwear and leather goods production: Calculate and establish operative times in footwear and leather goods manufacturing using various method and techniques. Control the production timings, comparing with estimates.
- Use IT tools: Application of computers, computer networks and other information technologies and equipment to storing, retrieving, transmitting and manipulating data, in the context of a business or enterprise.
Optional knowledge and skills
Optional knowledge
This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of leather goods production supervisor. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.
- Leather technology: Subject that includes traditional and advanced technologies of tanning processes, including machinery, service plants and other supporting equipment like moving or dosing systems.
- Leather physical testing: Set of tests that describe physical features of leather. They include the analysis of the performance characteristics of leather, such as resistance to bending, to friction, to tearing, etc.
- Pre-stitching processes and techniques for footwear and leather goods: Technology including machinery and techniques for the preparation for leather goods components and footwear uppers.
- Automatic cutting systems for footwear and leather goods: The use and description of automatic systems technologies used in footwear and leather goods industry such as laser cutting, knife cutting, punch cutting, mill cutting, ultra-sound cutting, water jet cutting and the cutting machinery such as swing beam cutting presses, traveling head die cutting presses or strap cutting machines.
- Footwear equipments: Functionality of the wide range of equipments and the basic rules of regular maintenance.
- Leather finishing technologies: Equipment, technologies and techniques for coating and laminating finishing of leather according to product specification. Topics include surface preparation, equipment types, preparation of substrata, operation monitoring and applications related to different types of finishing, coatings and final articles.
- Footwear machinery: The functionality of the wide range of machines, and the basic rules of regular maintenance.
- Footwear creation process: Footwear creation projects starting from inspiration to technical design and manufacturing by following several stages. Latest trends in footwear materials, components, processes, and concepts.
Optional skills and competences
These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of leather goods production supervisor. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.
- Manage supplies: Monitor and control the flow of supplies that includes the purchase, storage and movement of the required quality of raw materials, and also work-in-progress inventory. Manage supply chain activities and synchronise supply with demand of production and customer.
- Prepare leather goods samples: Create, test and verify prototypes or samples of leather goods against a predefined set of criteria throughout all stages of the manufacturing process. Revise the initial design concepts and implement technical improvements.
- Practice innovative thinking in the footwear and leather goods industries: Innovate and create in the footwear and leather goods sector. Evaluate new ideas and concepts to turn them into marketable products. Use entrepreneurial thinking in all stages of the product and process development to identify new business opportunities for the targeted markets.
- Apply basic rules of maintenance to leather goods and footwear machinery: Apply basic rules of maintenance and cleanliness on footwear and leather goods production equipment and machines that you operate.
- Operate automatic cutting systems for footwear and leather goods: Work with the equipment’s software. Digitise and mark the leather areas with faults in order to avoid them. Establish nesting and cutting restrictions for each pattern. Pick up, sort, upload patterns, check and complete cutting orders. Adjust the machines and equipment parameters and perform simple procedures for maintenance.
- Determine leather goods warehouse layout: Select the suitable warehouse layouts according to the specific conditions of the leather goods company. Plan the warehouse layout. Implement the warehouse management system.
- Perform packing of footwear and leather goods: Perform packing and expedition of footwear and leather goods. Perform a final inspection, pack, label, store the orders in the warehouse.
- Apply machine cutting techniques for footwear and leather goods: Adjust and establish the machine technical operating parameters for cutting footwear and leather goods. Check and select the cutting dies, classification of the cut pieces against cutting restrictions, specifications and quality requirements. Check and complete the cutting orders. Perform simple procedures for maintenance of machines.
- Reduce environmental impact of footwear manufacturing: Assess the environmental impact of footwear manufacture and minimise environmental risks. Reduce environmentally harmful work practices in different stages of the footwear manufacturing.
- Maintain equipment: Regularly inspect and perform all required activities to maintain the equipment in functional order prior or after its use.
- Communicate commercial and technical issues in foreign languages: Speak one or more foreign languages in order to communicate commercial and technical issues with various suppliers and clients.
- Perform laboratory tests on footwear or leather goods: Perform laboratory quality control tests on footwear, leather goods or its materials or components following national and international standards. Prepare samples and procedures. Analyse and interpret tests results and produced reports. Cooperate with outsourced laboratories.
- Test chemical auxiliaries: Conduct analysis to characterise the content of the mixtures of chemical auxiliaries. These include the determination of the water content, the amount of active principles declared, looking for potential hazards, etc.
- Develop footwear and leather goods marketing plans: Be able to develop marketing plans and provide directions for marketing strategies of the company, as well as be able to identify potential markets and to perform marketing activities to promote the footwear products of the company.
- Differentiate nuance of colours: The talent to analyse, mix and match colours. Be able to pass a colour acuity test.
- Manage quality of leather throughout the production process: Manage systems for the customer-focused organisation of leather production processes. It uses strategy, data, and effective communications to integrate the quality approach into the culture and activities of the company and also to achieve the organisation’s mission and goals.
- Perform manual cutting for footwear uppers: Check and complete cutting orders, select leather surfaces and classify cut pieces. Identify faults and defects on the leather surface. Recognise colours, shades and type of finishes. Use the following tools: knife, pattern templates, cutting board and marking needle.
- Apply footwear finishing techniques: Apply various chemical and mechanical finishing procedures to footwear by performing manual or machine operations, with or without chemicals, such as heel and sole roughing, dying, bottom polishing, cold or hot wax burnishing, cleaning, removing tacks, inserting socks, hot air treeing for removing wrinkles, and cream, spray or antique dressing. Work both manually and use the equipment and machines, and adjust working parameters.
ISCO group and title
3122 – Manufacturing supervisors
References