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The differences between lean manufacturing engineers and technical services 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 technical services engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a technical services engineer has an average salary of $81,204, 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 technical services engineer are customer service, technical support, and technical service.
| Lean Manufacturing Engineer | Technical Services Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $75,994 | $81,204 |
| Hourly rate | $36.54 | $39.04 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 59,193 | 217,103 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 76% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| 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 technical services engineer is responsible for assisting customers on their systems and network issues, providing them the best technical solutions, and guiding them on step-by-step procedures for troubleshooting. Technical services engineers must have excellent communication and technical skills, especially on identifying customers' system failures by asking them a few questions. They also escalate high-level complaints to internal teams, ensuring that they present the client's issues for reference. A technical services engineer also handles systems configuration and recommending process improvement techniques to optimize network infrastructure.
Lean manufacturing engineers and technical services engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lean Manufacturing Engineer | Technical Services Engineer | |
| Average salary | $75,994 | $81,204 |
| Salary range | Between $59,000 And $97,000 | Between $57,000 And $115,000 |
| Highest paying City | Milpitas, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Stryker | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a lean manufacturing engineer and a technical services engineer in terms of educational background:
| Lean Manufacturing Engineer | Technical Services Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 76% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Industrial Engineering | Chemical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between lean manufacturing engineers' and technical services engineers' demographics:
| Lean Manufacturing Engineer | Technical Services Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 84.4% Female, 15.6% | Male, 88.0% Female, 12.0% |
| 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, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 11.4% White, 71.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |