Capacity planner vs production controller

The differences between capacity planners and production controllers 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 production controller. Additionally, a capacity planner has an average salary of $103,430, which is higher than the $53,125 average annual salary of a production controller.

The top three skills for a capacity planner include infrastructure, project management and SQL. The most important skills for a production controller are production control, production planning, and logistics.

Capacity planner vs production controller overview

	Capacity Planner	Production Controller
Yearly salary	$103,430	$53,125
Hourly rate	$49.73	$25.54
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	19,024	71,747
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
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 production controller do?

A production controller is in charge of overseeing manufacturing operations, ensuring the workflow adheres to the quality standards, budgets, and deadlines. It is their duty to develop production and inventory control techniques, coordinate with managers to establish objectives and guidelines, review production plans and job orders, and supervise the supply chain operations. They also monitor every procedure, implement solutions in problem areas, and produce progress reports as needed. Furthermore, as a production controller, it is essential to maintain an active communication line with the production team while implementing the company's protocols and policies.

Capacity planner vs production controller salary

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

	Capacity Planner	Production Controller
Average salary	$103,430	$53,125
Salary range	Between $74,000 And $144,000	Between $37,000 And $74,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Fremont, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Netflix	Intuitive Surgical
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between capacity planner and production controller education

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

	Capacity Planner	Production Controller
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 49%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Capacity planner vs production controller demographics

Here are the differences between capacity planners' and production controllers' demographics:

	Capacity Planner	Production Controller
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 68.1% Female, 31.9%	Male, 64.0% Female, 36.0%
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, 10.1% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 7.0% White, 60.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between capacity planner and production controller 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.

Production controller example responsibilities.

Manage multiple windows to access accurate inventory, P.O numbers and job numbers.
Schedule production and manage inventory of raw materials and finish products using the MRP inventory control system.
Manage production order releases base on space, capacity, man power and indenture BOM build schemes.
Provide management with visibility of material shortages, backlogs, manage WIP variances and other potential schedule conflicts.
Manage warehouse and shipping departments, responsible for outsourcing secondary machining of materials, purchasing MRO supplies and logistics.
Flight line expediter ensures maintenance accomplishment and sortie production by managing, controlling and directing allocate resources and personnel.

Capacity planner vs production controller skills

Common capacity planner skills

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

Common production controller skills

Production Control, 28%
Production Planning, 14%
Logistics, 6%
Control Procedures, 5%
Production Schedules, 3%
MRP, 3%

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Capacity Planner
Capacity Planner vs Production Controller

Updated January 8, 2025

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