Planner/buyer vs production planner

The differences between planner/buyers and production planners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a planner/buyer, becoming a production planner takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a production planner has an average salary of $60,390, which is higher than the $54,261 average annual salary of a planner/buyer.

The top three skills for a planner/buyer include supply chain, purchase orders and customer service. The most important skills for a production planner are customer service, MRP, and ERP.

Planner/buyer vs production planner overview

	Planner/Buyer	Production Planner
Yearly salary	$54,261	$60,390
Hourly rate	$26.09	$29.03
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	33,452	68,717
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 65%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Average age	48	45
Years of experience	6	2

What does a planner/buyer do?

The role of buyers/planners is to ensure that office materials and equipment are well-supplied within their organization. They decide and purchase the materials needed for use or resale by their organization. They are responsible for evaluating prospective suppliers based on their cost, product quality, and delivery times. They are also the ones who negotiate contracts specifying the payment terms, price, and delivery schedules. Most employers prefer their buyer to have earned a bachelor's degree with a major in operations management or business management.

What does a production planner do?

Production planners or schedulers are employees who take charge of the timeliness and accuracy of the production process. The planners develop production schedules which detail the tasks that need to be done to meet the set completion date. They emphasize the goods and materials necessary in the production phase. It is their job to make sure that the working space is well-maintained for optimal performance. They also manage the flow of information during production.

Planner/buyer vs production planner salary

Planner/buyers and production planners have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Planner/Buyer	Production Planner
Average salary	$54,261	$60,390
Salary range	Between $37,000 And $77,000	Between $44,000 And $81,000
Highest paying City	Billerica, MA	Newark, CA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Washington
Best paying company	Edwards Lifesciences	Intuitive Surgical
Best paying industry	Technology	Energy

Differences between planner/buyer and production planner education

There are a few differences between a planner/buyer and a production planner in terms of educational background:

	Planner/Buyer	Production Planner
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 65%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Western Carolina University

Planner/buyer vs production planner demographics

Here are the differences between planner/buyers' and production planners' demographics:

	Planner/Buyer	Production Planner
Average age	48	45
Gender ratio	Male, 47.9% Female, 52.1%	Male, 60.0% Female, 40.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 7.9% White, 65.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 7.1% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	11%

Differences between planner/buyer and production planner duties and responsibilities

Planner/buyer example responsibilities.

Manage assign commodities by communicating MRP changes to the suppliers, minimizing obsolete inventory while achieving the optimum inventory levels.
Manage monthly and year end physical inventory audits of all raw materials, WIP, and finish goods.
Manage inventory pipelines from NPI to manufacturing and/or offshore contract manufacturers.
Utilize company ERP system for inventory management and schedule optimization.
Plan and coordinate all material requirements of assign commodities and supplier availability utilizing the MRP system.
Synchronize with packers and freight forwarders to arrange and prepare documentation shipment export.

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Production planner example responsibilities.

Manage large supply base consolidations for both production parts and MRO items.
Manage customer accounts from small first time customers to large OEM's.
Manage and update inventory plan base on ABC and MTO statistic data.
Provide leadership and manage production JCL analyst team supporting and recovering of production job streams.
Track managed backlog dollars, OEM, finish product, and make to order specialty products.
Supervise NPI chip fulfillment process - manage wafer starts to meet internal qualification and board level build plan.

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Planner/buyer vs production planner skills

Common planner/buyer skills

Supply Chain, 14%
Purchase Orders, 14%
Customer Service, 7%
MRP, 6%
ERP, 3%
Logistics, 3%

Common production planner skills

Customer Service, 11%
MRP, 9%
ERP, 5%
Logistics, 4%
Continuous Improvement, 4%
On-Time Delivery, 4%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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