Salary Survey 2014: Plant Managers

November: Sales and Marketing

Executives

December: Laboratory & Technical

Dollars for Doers

By Lisa Tocci

If youre a plant manager in the lubricants industry, how much do you expect to take home this year? Are you counting on a raise or a bonus as part of that bottom-line number? What do your peers make – especially those who work in similar companies, or have a similar number of people under their wing?

Ninety lubricant plant managers helped provide answers to these and other questions for our 2014 Lubricants Industry Salary Survey. On average, they told LubesnGreases, their yearly compensation is $111,400. The median compensation is $110,000; half of them make more, half make less.

Sixty percent of these respondents work for lubricant manufacturers, taking home an average $124,000 a year. Their median compensation is $125,000.

The balance of the respondents say they work for lubricant distributors, where operations are a bit less complex and pay tends to be commensurately lower. This group reports making an average of $92,600 a year, and a median of $82,750.

Most would say those are pretty attractive figures, yet they are a notch below what plant managers told us two years ago, the previous time LubesnGreases conducted its confidential survey. Back in 2012 plant managers reported their average pay overall was $121,400. (At least this year appears better than 2010, when the recession put paychecks on ice and lube plant managers compensation averaged only $95,700.)

Readers should avoid making direct comparisons of this years results with data from earlier years however, because each biannual survey collects information from a unique pool of respondents. This year 90 plant managers responded to our survey, versus 74 who offered their details two years ago. Also, only 17 percent of the plant managers replying this year said they work for companies with more than 500 employees. Two years ago, 28 percent came from companies at this top end of the scale, where historically the pay is best.

Another difference is that this years plant managers tend to have fewer staff reporting to them. (Makes sense, since more of them this time are with small and mid-size companies). On average, the 2014 participants say they supervise 27 people each, while those in 2012 managed 34.

Because of these and other differences in the reporting pool, the 2014 survey cannot be used to definitively state that lube plant manager compensation went down – only that this years pool of respondents are making less than those who participated in 2012.

Whats My Line?

Painting with a broad brush, heres what our 2014 survey respondents say a lube plant manager looks like:

They are well-seasoned individuals. Those working for lubricant manufacturers say they have more than 22 years of professional experience. Those at lubricant distributors have 20 years under their belts.

He or she is 49 years old and has spent an average of 9.4 years in this job, and 13.6 years with this employer.

While men dominate the field, women are right in the thick of things. Of the 90 plant managers responding to our survey this year, nine are women.

They hail from every geographic region of the United States. Half of them work in the Central states that are home to the countrys manufacturing core. Another 36 percent are located in the East, and 14 percent are based out West.

Typically, those who work for lubricant manufacturers have pay-day bragging rights over those who work for lubricant distributors. In 2010, distributor plant managers on average earned about 80 percent of what their lube manufacturing plant colleagues did; in 2012 they attained 90 percent. This year, the gap has widened again and distributor plant managers are averaging about 75 percent of the pay meted out in lube manufacturing.

To be sure, lube manufacturers dont always pay more. The lowest dollar figure reported this year – $34,000 – was earned by a plant manager working for a lubricant manufacturer.

Smaller Firms, Lower Pay

Plant managers at the smallest companies, counting 10 or fewer employees on the entire payroll, are on the bottom rung when it comes to compensation. Six survey participants this year are with companies that small. Those with lube manufacturers report making $95,000, and those with distributors pull down just $71,000 in yearly pay.

Richer rewards can be found simply by taking another step up the ladder, to companies employing 11 to 50 people. Thirty-one percent of the lube plant managers who responded this year work at companies of this size. Those with lubricant manufacturers harvest compensation amounting to $110,700 a year, while those with distributors say they reap $90,600.

The pay scale gets even brighter at the next level, our respondents told us. Plant managers working at lube companies with 51 to 100 on the payroll make $118,900 at manufacturers, and $114,250 at distributors – which is pretty close to parity.

At the top end of the size scale are the very large organizations that employ 500 or more people. One in six of our respondents said they oversee a plant for companies of this size, earning a handsome $142,700 a year on average. Every one of them works for a lube manufacturer; no distributors are represented here.

Head Counts Count

LubesnGreases also analyzed the plant managers responses by how many people they directly supervise. As youd expect, staff size and dollars earned tend to move in lock-step.

Whether they involve manufacturing or distribution, lubricant plants are complex operations, and 47 percent of our 2014 respondents say they supervise at least 13 people, often many more. The median pay for plant managers at this level of command is $110,000 for those at lubricant distributors, and $130,000 for those with lubricant manufacturers.

Viewed in terms of averages, those on the lube distributor side who supervise up to five employees report annual pay of $79,000. When the number of people managed is between six and 12, compensation escalates by about $5,000 a year, to reach $84,600. And those who supervise 13 or more say they average nearly $115,800.

The step-changes are steeper yet for those who manage lubricant manufacturing plants. At the smallest outfits, with five or fewer workers under their watch, plant managers say they average almost $87,900 a year. That jumps to $115,900 – a whopping $28,000 more – when the number supervised is between six and 12. And blending plant managers who oversee 13 or more individuals tip the scale at a hefty $142,500.

Geography Quiz

Where a plant is located can make a big difference in its managers compensation, too. The averages run the gamut from $78,600 in the Northwest United States to $130,000 in the Southwest. California excepted, however, the western third of the country is relatively sparse on both population and lubricant plants. So its not surprising that our 2014 survey drew responses from a total of 13 plant managers from distributors and manufacturers in the West, versus 32 from the East and 45 from the Central states.

Participants based in the Northeast and North Central regions are essentially neck-and-neck on pay, they told us, with the former drawing an average $124,000 a year and the latter earning $123,900. Their medians, respectively, are $113,000 and $126,000.

The average pay dips a bit for plant managers employed in the Southeast, coming in at $94,000 a year. Responses from this region were evenly divided between manufacturers and distributors, but the median for those with distributors ($98,500) actually topped what was reported by manufacturing managers ($70,000).

The petroleum industrys heartland – the South Central United States – generated the greatest number of responses from lube plant managers. The 28 individuals checking in from this region say they make an average of $108,100 a year, and a median of $107,500. However, a $25,000 gap can be discerned between what they average at distributors ($93,100) versus manufacturing plants ($117,800).

Gender, Certification

Ten percent of the plant managers responding to our survey this year are women. These women reporting having the same overall level of experience as their male counterparts, at 21 years, and have been in their current jobs a little longer – 11 years for the women, versus nine years for the men. Only one works for a distributor.

Looking exclusively at those who manage lubricant manufacturing plants, the average pay for women is $94,500 a year; for men, $129,000. Median compensation for these same groups is $90,000 and $125,250, respectively.

If this discrepancy is not due to gender alone, are there other factors behind it? Perhaps. More men reported having jobs at the biggest companies, where pay tends to be higher, and they also supervise an average of 38 people (mean: 20 people). Women respondents say they supervise just 22 people on average (their mean: five). But with so few women participants overall, theres insufficient data to make any surmises.

LubesnGreases also asked participants if they hold Certified Lubrication Specialist credentials from the Society of Tribologists & Lubrication Engineers, and 11 percent responded in the affirmative.

Does this certification pay off for plant managers? On the production side of the lubes business, perhaps not: Those with CLS who direct manufacturing operations reported making an average $121,400 a year, compared to $124,100 for those without the certification. On the distribution side of the business though, CLS holders do seem to shine. Their reported average compensation is $121,800 – $35,000 more than those without it. However, its important to remember that CLS holders in these jobs, like women, did not participate robustly in the survey. Conclusions are not possible from this sample.

Loosening the Belts?

Sixty-eight percent of lube plant managers told us they received a raise in the past 12 months, which suggests that employers are opening their wallets a bit now. Two years ago, only 62 percent of respondents said they got a pay raise, and barely half did in 2010.

Prospects for taking home a bonus have also become rosier, along with profit sharing, our 2014 respondents indicate. Of those working in manufacturing, 72 percent believe theyll get a bonus this year; 53 percent of plant managers agree at lubricant distributors. Across the board, about one-quarter of all lube plant managers say that profit sharing will be part of their lot this year. In the economic doldrums of 2010, only 16 percent of respondents expected to see any distribution of profits.

Two more incentives that plant managers scoop up are stock shares and commissions. However, distributors are faster to parcel out commissions – 14 percent of their plant managers say they expect such add-ons – and a bit stingier with stock, which fewer than 6 percent receive. The picture is inverted at lube manufacturers, where only 2 percent of plant managers say they expect commission, and 9 percent anticipate stock.