What do you do if you're unsure about the different roles and responsibilities within Plant Operations?

Well, there's the "observe the circus and see how the monkeys behave" concept, if you have the luxury of time and possibility of doing that. That has the advantage of seeing how the company has defined the role or how they have declined to define it. Otherwise...talk to people to more quickly assess what they do, how they think of their roles; let them talk about themselves. Some folk like to talk about themselves and or what they do. If you have to quickly assess, like during interviews, Q&A and the short observations you can make while there might be the only tool you have plus maybe LI messages to delve a little deeper?

Debemos comprender que un operador tiene funciones principales y secundarias, las primeras se refieren a las actividades críticas que debe cumplir (que es por lo que lo contrataron), esta información debe estar contenida en el manual de funciones y debe tener la perspectiva SIPOC.

Plant Operator is not only operating the machine or computer, but they must do daily routine as Cleaning, Inspection, Lubrication, and Tightening. This is the most important things for Factory run smoothly.

In my experience, Plant Technician divides into 2 categories. 1 is Mechanical and 2 is Electrical. Both of them help Plant Operator for repairing or servicing such as motor, hydraulic, terminal, etc. So Plant Operator do the daily routine and when they found abnormalities they will contact Plant Technician asking for help, sometimes repair on the spot and sometimes must take schedule downtime.

Un técnico de planta de planta tiene como función principal dar soporte técnico a los activos de las operaciones para que tengan la máxima disponibilidad física. Los técnicos deben estar acreditados y certificados de acuerdo a su perfil técnico. Asimismo, debemos ayudarles a desarrollar las competencias para poder integrarse al equipo del problemas.

This role is the most important in Factory, someone who has strong leadership and decision-making is fit for this role. Because if you are a Plant Manager, you are not only working as boss, but you must well known your operations (human, machine, raw materials) so you can maintain good quality products and services for your customers.

Como gerente de planta, tu responsabilidad es crucial para el funcionamiento general de la instalación. Debes coordinar actividades diarias, mantener altos estándares de seguridad, eficiencia y calidad, y trabajar con otros departamentos para lograr los objetivos de la empresa. Tu liderazgo y habilidad para resolver problemas son esenciales para el éxito de la planta. Nuestra gestión será medida en función a los resultados obtenidos por la buena administración de los recursos humanos, recursos financieros, activos, entre otros.

If you don’t understand or not sure, don’t hesitate to ask and discuss. Because if you have less knowledge about the role, it can confusing you and the job becomes ambiguous and the worst part is no one want to finish that job, because everyone thinks it’s not their job

Debemos adoptar y/o desarrollar la competencia del aprendizaje continuo para mejorar nuestra gestión dentro de planta. Ahora, existen muchas fuentes de información: E-Learning, base de datos, plataformas intuitivas de información en línea, cursos, seminarios, etc.

It will be considered as great weakness of an organization where roles and responsibilities are not clearly defined, both verbal Or written. Plant Operational management then becomes responsible to develop a system and define roles and responsibilities of various functional positions in Operation. In some small organizations sometimes, written policies and procedures are not available but their norms and practices are defined, however written and clearly defined system is always a better approach.

Learn six sigma, this is very useful and helpful. After that we can training another manufacturer lesson, such as Planning & Control, Maintenance and Warehouse.

Each organization has different roles and the responsibilities of each one vary greatly from facility to facility. Therefore, don't assume anything and ask questions. Ideally, these are the questions you make on your hiring interviews but there is no reason not to clarify them when you're already working in a facility. If these definitions are still not defined in the company, it's time to push management to do so. In plant operations, it isn't very efficient to have roles that have unclear responsibilities so if you're working in a professional environment, management will value this contribution of yours.