Job Requirements for Automation Technology Supervision

Should have sufficient knowledge in logic based programming. Needs to work well in team situations while giving good advice to other programmers, and assembly personnel. Must be very proficient in Microsoft office tools, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Must be able to travel to customers locations.

Needs to assist workers in trouble shooting conditions of new technologies. Must have high ethical standards, and must transfer those standards on to his/her subordinates. Must be able to analyze production data to determine if goals are being met. Continuous improvement is needed in the automation industry, plans and goals must be constantly adjusted to account for this. Must be able to follow and fall within a budget. She/he must also come up with a fair price when creating a budget for a project. She/he must have Entrepreneurial tendencies, and must be able to help in developing new technology along with help from other engineers. Must be able to form efficient and productive teams when planning a project. Sales skills are required when dealing with customers.

She/he must be able to delegate work out to their subordinates when things in the shop start to become busy. Must be able to determine when more help is needed in the shop, and needs basic interviewing/hiring skills. She/he needs to have strong social skills that empower subordinates to take charge of certain projects. This supervision position is one that will become more and more prevalent in America’s changing work force environment. With changes in how manufacturing is being completed, it’s requiring humans to work more with their heads, rather than their backs, and this supervision job is a testament to that idea. This type of supervision job requires the supervisor to work not only as a project manager, but also a team member. Having the supervisor work as a team member supports a more flat organization, which will have more of an ability to produce innovative products.

Creating this culture will empower the workers to put more effort into projects, and may lead to less of a need for supervision. At times creating this type of environment may not work for all employees. Some employees may take advantage of a more open environment, and that is when the supervisor needs to take the lead, and reprimand this worker. The supervisor may be able to motivate this type of worker with goals, a set of plans, or they may be able to pair this worker with another group of people to encourage a better work ethic. Supervisors in this position are also going to be looked to for advice on creating a budget many times. When the supervisor is developing the budget he must take all variables into consideration with his subordinates, suppliers, and lead times.

Developing this budget will directly affect the relationship that’s created with the customer. He will have a direct relationship with the customer when working on their project, so he will need to be educated in how to be an effective salesman. The supervisor for this position will also need to know when to hire extra help. Knowing when you are understaffed can sometimes mean being able to get a project done on time, or missing a dead line and costing a customer quite a bit of money. Since you are working with such innovative and new technology, you will have busy times, and very slow times. You need to be able to adjust how many workers you need on specific projects, and how many you should just have working on research and development projects.