While the manufacturing sector is vanishing in most European and North American regions, northeast Italian firms have successfully contrasted global competition thanks to superior manufacturing capabilities grounded, among other things, on people's competencies. Applying nonparametric statistical analysis on data from 212 behavioral event and 44 repertory grid interviews, the research presented in this note investigates the nature of these competencies for production supervisors in northeast Italian firms. We identify four threshold and nine distinctive competencies and offer insights on the relationship between these competencies and northeast Italian firms’ manufacturing capability. We also suggest how to use competency tools to design skill development policies in industrial clusters and implement effective human resource management practices in small and medium-sized enterprises.