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The differences between lean manufacturing engineers and product engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a lean manufacturing engineer, becoming a product engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a product engineer has an average salary of $89,645, which is higher than the $75,994 average annual salary of a lean manufacturing engineer.
The top three skills for a lean manufacturing engineer include lean manufacturing, kaizen events and process improvement. The most important skills for a product engineer are CAD, product design, and project management.
| Lean Manufacturing Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $75,994 | $89,645 |
| Hourly rate | $36.54 | $43.10 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 59,193 | 157,888 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 76% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 43 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 6 |
Lean manufacturing engineers are engineering professionals who are responsible for executing the lean manufacturing method, a process that reduces waste in a manufacturing system without sacrificing productivity. These engineers must utilize lean tools and train all plant personnel about using these tools to identify wastes and reduce costs. They must lead the process improvement teams to initiate activities that eliminate waste in all aspects of the operation. Lean manufacturing engineers must also perform cost or benefit analysts to determine the return of investment (ROI) of capital expenditures and project initiatives.
A product engineer specializes in designing and developing commercial materials and services. They are primarily responsible for conducting thorough research and analysis of the latest trends and marketing conditions to come up with new ideas and products for the public. Moreover, they are also responsible for producing reports and presentations, coordinating with the development team of their company. Product engineers also reach out to vendors and suppliers for the raw materials, set regulations and standards for the product, and even conduct a rigorous and regular quality check.
Lean manufacturing engineers and product engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lean Manufacturing Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average salary | $75,994 | $89,645 |
| Salary range | Between $59,000 And $97,000 | Between $68,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | Milpitas, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Stryker | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a lean manufacturing engineer and a product engineer in terms of educational background:
| Lean Manufacturing Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 76% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Industrial Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between lean manufacturing engineers' and product engineers' demographics:
| Lean Manufacturing Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 84.4% Female, 15.6% | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 17.1% White, 63.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.0% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |