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The differences between manufacturing consultants and manufacturing managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a manufacturing consultant, becoming a manufacturing manager takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a manufacturing manager has an average salary of $101,712, which is higher than the $86,698 average annual salary of a manufacturing consultant.
The top three skills for a manufacturing consultant include business process, enterprise resource planning and gap analysis. The most important skills for a manufacturing manager are continuous improvement, lean manufacturing, and production schedules.
| Manufacturing Consultant | Manufacturing Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $86,698 | $101,712 |
| Hourly rate | $41.68 | $48.90 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 40,993 | 40,395 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 42 | 48 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 2 |
Manufacturing Consultants play an essential role in a company through their outside expertise and experience. They provide solutions and implement actions during the product development process and establish the infrastructure needed for manufacturing. Their duties typically include creating specifications for various components and assembly steps, determining production benchmarks, and optimizing manufacturing efficiency, reliability, and throughput. They are also responsible for providing support in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) development and training and formulating lean manufacturing methods.
A manufacturing manager is an individual who manages the day-to-day operations of the organization's production process to ensure that all workers and departments meet the organization's productivity and efficiency standards. Manufacturing managers work under a department head and assist them in planning and directing an efficient equipment layout and material flow. They implement quality control programs that ensure finished products are in par with a certain standard. They also train manufacturing workers and monitor them to ensure that they meet performance and safety requirements.
Manufacturing consultants and manufacturing managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Manufacturing Consultant | Manufacturing Manager | |
| Average salary | $86,698 | $101,712 |
| Salary range | Between $55,000 And $135,000 | Between $71,000 And $145,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Intel | Bain & Company |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Retail |
There are a few differences between a manufacturing consultant and a manufacturing manager in terms of educational background:
| Manufacturing Consultant | Manufacturing Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | New York University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between manufacturing consultants' and manufacturing managers' demographics:
| Manufacturing Consultant | Manufacturing Manager | |
| Average age | 42 | 48 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.1% Female, 10.9% | Male, 88.8% Female, 11.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 11.6% White, 67.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.2% Asian, 9.2% White, 69.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 8% |