Capacity planner vs materials planner

The differences between capacity planners and materials planners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a capacity planner and a materials planner. Additionally, a capacity planner has an average salary of $103,430, which is higher than the $58,467 average annual salary of a materials planner.

The top three skills for a capacity planner include infrastructure, project management and SQL. The most important skills for a materials planner are supply chain, MRP, and purchase orders.

Capacity planner vs materials planner overview

	Capacity Planner	Materials Planner
Yearly salary	$103,430	$58,467
Hourly rate	$49.73	$28.11
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	19,024	23,019
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	2	2

What does a capacity planner do?

In the manufacturing industry, a capacity planner is primarily in charge of overseeing production facilities, developing detailed strategies to optimize their daily operations. They gather and review data from different departments, conduct research and analyses to determine the consumer and market demands, and assess production procedures to identify the strengths and weaknesses of existing systems. A capacity planner utilizes their research findings to develop detailed plans and product roadmaps, including recommendations and solutions against problem areas.

What does a materials planner do?

Usually working in a manufacturing setting, a materials planner's role is to manage the supply flow and inventory of materials. Their responsibilities revolve around liaising with vendors and other external agencies, processing purchase orders, monitoring the quality of supplies to ensure it is according to the standards, and coordinating with various teams to learn their needs. Furthermore, as a planner, it is essential to devise strategies to resolve any issues, all while adhering to the company's policies and standards.

Capacity planner vs materials planner salary

Capacity planners and materials planners have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Capacity Planner	Materials Planner
Average salary	$103,430	$58,467
Salary range	Between $74,000 And $144,000	Between $45,000 And $74,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Oakland, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Netflix	Apple
Best paying industry	-	Automotive

Differences between capacity planner and materials planner education

There are a few differences between a capacity planner and a materials planner in terms of educational background:

	Capacity Planner	Materials Planner
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Capacity planner vs materials planner demographics

Here are the differences between capacity planners' and materials planners' demographics:

	Capacity Planner	Materials Planner
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 68.1% Female, 31.9%	Male, 52.7% Female, 47.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 15.3% Asian, 7.8% White, 61.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 7.0% White, 60.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between capacity planner and materials planner duties and responsibilities

Capacity planner example responsibilities.

Manage bandwidth usage on copper-base colocation devices, central office switches and routers.
Manage various projects to implement MRP system correctly and cut supply cost and turn round time from supplier.
Supervise NPI chip fulfillment process - manage wafer starts to meet internal qualification and board level build plan.
Develop capacity planning and performance system for all mainframe and Unix systems
Maintain WAN/LAN IP capacity for S.E.
Provide ERP training to new personnel.

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Materials planner example responsibilities.

Develop and implement purchasing and contract management, policies and procedures and manage ISO documents and improvements.
Determine material and component requirements base on the MRP system and ensure availability to support production schedules.
Monitor MRP forecasts, inventory, customer demand, production requirements, inventory transactions and reject material.
Create and maintain MRP classification codes in addition to reviewing BOM accuracy to ensure correct component identification, ordering and release.
Maintain and setup supplier pull systems (KANBAN).
Key team member in planning, training, implementation, and support of a new ERP system.

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Capacity planner vs materials planner skills

Common capacity planner skills

Infrastructure, 15%
Project Management, 10%
SQL, 7%
Tableau, 6%
Historical Data, 5%
Data Centers, 4%

Common materials planner skills

Supply Chain, 12%
MRP, 8%
Purchase Orders, 5%
Logistics, 5%
Customer Service, 5%
Material Planning, 5%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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