2011 Leader Under 40: Roxanne Smith, 38
Supply Chain Manager, Siemens Industry Inc.
Plant Engineering Staff
Roxanne Smith, 38 
Supply Chain Manager, Siemens Industry Inc.
Years at Siemens Industry Inc.: 3
Supervisor: Shujath Ali
Education: BS Materials Science and Engineering, Virginia Tech
Roxanne’s contributions: “In the short time that Roxanne Smith has been with the operations management team as the supply chain manager, she has already distinguished herself by turning the material availability situation that was one of our biggest hurdles into almost a non-issue. Handling order management, purchasing, and planning for a plant with our complexity is not an easy task, and Roxanne excels at it. With a sense of urgency combined with her process and results orientation and continuous improvement attitude, Roxanne has been able to achieve tremendous results in the area of supply chain management and supplier quality management. With a keen eye on inventory and cash flow, Roxanne has established best practices in these areas, helping us meet our financial targets. Roxanne is a strong team player, and an asset to the operations management team.”
Why a career in manufacturing? “I graduated with an engineering degree from Virginia Tech in 1995. My first foray into manufacturing was working for a family-owned water bottling company. Over four years, I went from testing samples to running the facility. As the plant manager of a small facility, I managed all aspects of a manufacturing plant; sales, order management, engineering, operations, packaging, shipping, finance, accounting, and customer service. My father told me this was the best job I would ever have. He was right! I was hooked on manufacturing. Since then I have moved from operations into supply chain. I currently manage a staff of 14 salaried employees at Siemens Industry Inc. Supply chain, just like manufacturing, is all about continuous process improvement. The supply chain equation is made up of constantly changing variables that must be managed proactively. It is a never-ending battle to provide manufacturing with the material it needs to service a dynamic product base while keeping raw material inventory low enough to meet inventory turn and cash flow targets. I am proud to be part of a team that works continuously at innovating solutions to provide a better product to our customers.”
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2012 Salary Survey
In a year when manufacturing continued to lead the economic rebound, it makes sense that plant manager bonuses rebounded. Plant Engineering’s annual Salary Survey shows both wages and bonuses rose in 2012 after a retreat the year before.
Average salary across all job titles for plant floor management rose 3.5% to $95,446, and bonus compensation jumped to $15,162, a 4.2% increase from the 2010 level and double the 2011 total, which showed a sharp drop in bonus.