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The differences between principal manufacturing engineers and product 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 principal manufacturing engineer, becoming a product engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a principal manufacturing engineer has an average salary of $94,463, which is higher than the $89,645 average annual salary of a product engineer.
The top three skills for a principal manufacturing engineer include CAD, continuous improvement and process control. The most important skills for a product engineer are CAD, product design, and project management.
| Principal Manufacturing Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $94,463 | $89,645 |
| Hourly rate | $45.41 | $43.10 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 2% |
| Number of jobs | 91,957 | 157,888 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 43 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 6 |
Principle Manufacturing Engineers are responsible for leading an organization's operations involved in reducing cost, increasing production capacity, and implementing new efficient processes. Their duties include developing production capacity cost and quality targets and implementing workforce utilization, workspace efficiency, workflow, and equipment layout. They also manage project milestones by working closely with internal groups and suppliers. Principle Manufacturing Engineers review production data gathered, supervise production process improvements, and assist in the accurate manufacturing documentation.
A product engineer specializes in designing and developing commercial materials and services. They are primarily responsible for conducting thorough research and analysis of the latest trends and marketing conditions to come up with new ideas and products for the public. Moreover, they are also responsible for producing reports and presentations, coordinating with the development team of their company. Product engineers also reach out to vendors and suppliers for the raw materials, set regulations and standards for the product, and even conduct a rigorous and regular quality check.
Principal manufacturing engineers and product engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Principal Manufacturing Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average salary | $94,463 | $89,645 |
| Salary range | Between $72,000 And $122,000 | Between $68,000 And $118,000 |
| Highest paying City | Santa Rosa, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | ZS | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Technology |
There are a few differences between a principal manufacturing engineer and a product engineer in terms of educational background:
| Principal Manufacturing Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between principal manufacturing engineers' and product engineers' demographics:
| Principal Manufacturing Engineer | Product Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.2% Female, 11.8% | Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 17.2% White, 63.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 17.0% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 5% |