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The differences between manufacturing systems engineers and sales engineers 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 systems engineer, becoming a sales engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a sales engineer has an average salary of $93,727, which is higher than the $84,708 average annual salary of a manufacturing systems engineer.
The top three skills for a manufacturing systems engineer include MES, SQL and lean manufacturing. The most important skills for a sales engineer are pre sales, customer service, and sales process.
| Manufacturing Systems Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $84,708 | $93,727 |
| Hourly rate | $40.73 | $45.06 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 118,696 | 132,324 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 42 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
A manufacturing systems engineer works to integrate entire manufacturing processes. The role of a manufacturing system engineer includes integrating a wide range of systems from production to supplies and sales, participating in a project from beginning to end, budgeting and performing resource allocation. They must also integrate the manufacturing process to allow for maximum production volume at lower costs and within a shorter time period.
A sales engineer is responsible for assisting customers with their technical equipment and advanced scientific product needs. Sales engineers must have excellent knowledge of the scientific processes and component functions of the products they're selling to deliver presentations and orient the customers. Sales engineers' duties also include troubleshooting, identifying product defects, and upgrading systems for better optimization. They are also responsible for analyzing cost estimates documents, performing adjustments as needed, process payments, arranging deliveries, and settling customers' complaints by replacing damaged items or doing refunds.
Manufacturing systems engineers and sales engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Manufacturing Systems Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Average salary | $84,708 | $93,727 |
| Salary range | Between $64,000 And $111,000 | Between $66,000 And $132,000 |
| Highest paying City | Berkeley, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Virginia |
| Best paying company | Meta | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Education | Technology |
There are a few differences between a manufacturing systems engineer and a sales engineer in terms of educational background:
| Manufacturing Systems Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between manufacturing systems engineers' and sales engineers' demographics:
| Manufacturing Systems Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 86.1% Female, 13.9% | Male, 90.1% Female, 9.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 14.6% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 1.7% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.0% Asian, 7.1% White, 76.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 7% |