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The differences between manufacturing consultants and production engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a manufacturing consultant and a production engineer. Additionally, a production engineer has an average salary of $89,727, 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 production engineer are java, continuous improvement, and lean manufacturing.
| Manufacturing Consultant | Production Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $86,698 | $89,727 |
| Hourly rate | $41.68 | $43.14 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 40,993 | 94,789 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
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 production engineer is responsible for monitoring the production operations, ensuring everyone's adherence to safety protocols, and evaluating the staff's performance, strategizing on maximizing productivity to deliver efficient results that would drive revenues and increase profitability. Production engineers inspect the reliability of production equipment and machinery, conducting preventive maintenance, and repair inconsistencies to prevent production delays. They also identify areas of improvement with the manufacturing processes and escalate best practices for improvement. A production engineer must be knowledgeable about technological advancements and incorporate ideas to minimize costs without sacrificing the quality of services.
Manufacturing consultants and production engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Manufacturing Consultant | Production Engineer | |
| Average salary | $86,698 | $89,727 |
| Salary range | Between $55,000 And $135,000 | Between $64,000 And $125,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Intel | Cheniere Energy |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a manufacturing consultant and a production engineer in terms of educational background:
| Manufacturing Consultant | Production Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Most common major | Business | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | New York University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between manufacturing consultants' and production engineers' demographics:
| Manufacturing Consultant | Production Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.1% Female, 10.9% | Male, 86.7% Female, 13.3% |
| 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, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 15.4% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 4% |