Central supply technician vs inventory specialist

The differences between central supply technicians and inventory specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an inventory specialist has an average salary of $35,752, which is higher than the $35,231 average annual salary of a central supply technician.

The top three skills for a central supply technician include patients, sterile processing and customer service. The most important skills for an inventory specialist are customer service, sales floor, and reservations.

Central supply technician vs inventory specialist overview

	Central Supply Technician	Inventory Specialist
Yearly salary	$35,231	$35,752
Hourly rate	$16.94	$17.19
Growth rate	1%	1%
Number of jobs	30,995	161,107
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 36%	High School Diploma, 33%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	-	-

What does a central supply technician do?

Central Supply Technicians are responsible for the administration and dispensing of surgical and medical supplies. Their duties include ordering supplies, filling supplies in supply cabinets, bulk rooms, carts, and central inventory, conducting par areas inspections, performing pallet break-downs, and undertaking supplies inspection for package integrity. They also carry out cycle counts, organize carts and cabinets, report for needed repairs, and manage the issuance of procedural carts and trays.

What does an inventory specialist do?

An Inventory Specialist's responsibility is to oversee the inventory in a warehouse or establishment. Most of the tasks of an Inventory Specialist revolve around monitoring the requisition, storage, and deliveries of supplies and merchandise to ensure the quality and quantity of the products. Moreover, the Inventory Specialist also has the responsibility to coordinate with store management when issues arise, train newly hired staff to be a valuable part of the workforce, and provide inventory reports and records to the administration.

Central supply technician vs inventory specialist salary

Central supply technicians and inventory specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Central Supply Technician	Inventory Specialist
Average salary	$35,231	$35,752
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $46,000	Between $25,000 And $49,000
Highest paying City	Monterey, CA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	California	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Mohawk Valley Health System	Ensign Energy
Best paying industry	Media	Technology

Differences between central supply technician and inventory specialist education

There are a few differences between a central supply technician and an inventory specialist in terms of educational background:

	Central Supply Technician	Inventory Specialist
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 36%	High School Diploma, 33%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Central supply technician vs inventory specialist demographics

Here are the differences between central supply technicians' and inventory specialists' demographics:

	Central Supply Technician	Inventory Specialist
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 45.0% Female, 55.0%	Male, 58.9% Female, 41.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 20.4% Asian, 6.7% White, 56.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 19.0% Asian, 7.2% White, 57.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between central supply technician and inventory specialist duties and responsibilities

Central supply technician example responsibilities.

Cataloge property, maintain property records and manage inventory using PBUSE system.
Assist home RN and hospice staff with ADL's.
Practice & enforce HIPPA patient privacy guidelines.
Order supplies, maintain records and compile information using Microsoft office such as word, excel, and PowerPoint.
Reconcile charges for outsource services to ensure patients are billed accurately.
Develop PowerPoint presentations that assist in supply management and logistics oversight.

Inventory specialist example responsibilities.

Manage assign commodities by communicating MRP changes to the suppliers, minimizing obsolete inventory while achieving the optimum inventory targets.
Manage JDE ERP module for service department of finish goods for sale and field support.
Achieve establish average per hour (APH) counting goals while ensuring accuracy and integrity of the data collect.
Used WIS scanners to scan stock and download scanner information to computer.
Strategize to balance demand and delivery schedules due to expiration date of perishables.
Pick and pack any shipments for the customer and ship them through WMS application.

Central supply technician vs inventory specialist skills

Common central supply technician skills

Patients, 18%
Sterile Processing, 13%
Customer Service, 11%
Infection Control, 8%
Surgery, 5%
Surgical Instruments, 5%

Common inventory specialist skills

Customer Service, 26%
Sales Floor, 9%
Reservations, 7%
Pallet Jack, 6%
Safety Standards, 5%
Strong Analytical, 5%

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Central Supply Technician
Central Supply Technician vs Inventory Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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