Assistant planner vs inventory planner

The differences between assistant planners and inventory planners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an assistant planner and an inventory planner. Additionally, an assistant planner has an average salary of $80,357, which is higher than the $65,504 average annual salary of an inventory planner.

The top three skills for an assistant planner include strong analytical, purchase orders and allocation strategies. The most important skills for an inventory planner are supply chain, purchase orders, and logistics.

Assistant planner vs inventory planner overview

	Assistant Planner	Inventory Planner
Yearly salary	$80,357	$65,504
Hourly rate	$38.63	$31.49
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	13,753	37,034
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	2	2

What does an assistant planner do?

An assistant planner is responsible for assisting the chief planner in identifying services and activities to help business functional operations and processes. Assistant planners usually coordinate with various departments to connect projects and develop business opportunities that would generate more revenue resources for the business and increase profitability. They also reach out to potential clients, discuss the services offered by the company, and prepare contracts for partnerships. An assistant planner must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in focusing on techniques that would help the business achieve its long-term goals and objectives.

What does an inventory planner do?

An inventory planner is an individual who is responsible for creating effective inventory plans and strategies to maximize profitability for an organization. Inventory planners are required to produce documents that detail the quantity specifications of the organization's product or equipment. They must maintain their files updated about the inventory by recording them into the organization's databases to avoid possible discrepancies. Inventory planners must also predict future inventory needs and producing plans for buying based on forecasts and sales data.

Assistant planner vs inventory planner salary

Assistant planners and inventory planners have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Assistant Planner	Inventory Planner
Average salary	$80,357	$65,504
Salary range	Between $51,000 And $125,000	Between $45,000 And $93,000
Highest paying City	Monterey, CA	San Bruno, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Belk	Entegris
Best paying industry	Media	Technology

Differences between assistant planner and inventory planner education

There are a few differences between an assistant planner and an inventory planner in terms of educational background:

	Assistant Planner	Inventory Planner
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Western Carolina University

Assistant planner vs inventory planner demographics

Here are the differences between assistant planners' and inventory planners' demographics:

	Assistant Planner	Inventory Planner
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 34.8% Female, 65.2%	Male, 53.0% Female, 47.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 17.2% Asian, 7.1% White, 60.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 17.3% Asian, 7.1% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between assistant planner and inventory planner duties and responsibilities

Assistant planner example responsibilities.

Manage product flow in apparel category; determining order quantities and generating purchase orders for new and replenishment orders.
Used EDI for customer order releases and shipping information.
Price, negotiate and book shipments with customers and brokers via phone, email tenders and EDI.
Facilitate ISO audits as a lead quality inspector and maintain documentation revision and version control in adherence with ISO standards.
Create marketing campaigns through Volusion e-Commerce software, MyEmma email campaigns, USPS mail, & Facebook to drive revenue sales.
Analyze and recap sales results and inventory forecasts and present business recaps to senior management at quarterly update meetings.

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Inventory planner example responsibilities.

Develop process to manage import orders to manage time and inventory more effectively JDA E3 certify.
Participate in SIOP meeting and coordinate with all function teams and regional/global team to achieve corporate KPI.
Develop and implement purchasing and contract management, policies and procedures and manage ISO documents and improvements.
Review stock levels, imbalances and data integrity in JDA to ensure the supply plan is generating accurate information.
Handle complex monthly reconciliations and daily/weekly journal entries to ensure AR balance accuracy.
Facilitate communication channels between the sales groups and corporate logistics to drive improve demand forecast.

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Assistant planner vs inventory planner skills

Common assistant planner skills

Strong Analytical, 8%
Purchase Orders, 8%
Allocation Strategies, 6%
GIS, 5%
Inventory Productivity, 5%
Inventory Management, 5%

Common inventory planner skills

Supply Chain, 12%
Purchase Orders, 9%
Logistics, 8%
Manage Inventory, 8%
Inventory Planning, 7%
Historical Data, 4%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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