The Organizational Structure of a Manufacturing Company

Manufacturers organize as needed to maximize productivity and increase quality assurances.

Manufacturing companies must organize to maximize productivity, quality and shareholders' value. Because of the importance of quality, the organizational structure gives quality assurance special consideration.

Identification

The basic organizational structure of a manufacturing company follows the traditional hierarchical organizational structure, consisting of a Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Operations Officer (COO), department heads and then employees. However, because of the importance of quality in manufacturing, the head of quality or quality assurance ranks up there with the CEO, says Brek Maunfacturing.

Function

In the manufacturing industry, quality is everything. Just consider the automobile industry and how quality or the perception of quality can affect sales. In addition to internal quality specifications and assurances, companies have to meet international quality management standards such as ISO 9000, according to Praxiom.com.

Considerations

To improve quality, some manufacturing organizations use a matrix organizational structure close to the production line. This is where a production team, led by a production manager, can work together and make decisions and address production and quality issues without having to coordinate with department heads, according to FlatWorldKnowledge.com. Department heads focus on general operating policy in this scenario.

References

• Brek Maunfacturing: Organization Chart
• Senior Management Services: Trouble Getting Organized?
• Praxiom: ISO 9000 and ISO 9001 in Plain English
• Flat World Knowledge: Contemporary Forms of Organizational Structures