Product planner vs production planner

The differences between product planners and production planners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a product planner and a production planner. Additionally, a product planner has an average salary of $94,669, which is higher than the $60,390 average annual salary of a production planner.

The top three skills for a product planner include product development, product planning and product line. The most important skills for a production planner are customer service, MRP, and ERP.

Product planner vs production planner overview

	Product Planner	Production Planner
Yearly salary	$94,669	$60,390
Hourly rate	$45.51	$29.03
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	85,346	68,717
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	2	2

What does a product planner do?

Product planner positions require a battery of skills, including decisiveness, stress management, leadership, organization, communication, statistics, business operations, computer literacy, and problem-solving, to name a few. Those who choose this career will be required to involve internally-focused decisions, steps, and tasks necessary to develop a successful product.

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.

Product planner vs production planner salary

Product planners and production planners have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Product Planner	Production Planner
Average salary	$94,669	$60,390
Salary range	Between $71,000 And $124,000	Between $44,000 And $81,000
Highest paying City	Santa Rosa, CA	Newark, CA
Highest paying state	California	Washington
Best paying company	Apple	Intuitive Surgical
Best paying industry	Technology	Energy

Differences between product planner and production planner education

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

	Product Planner	Production Planner
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Western Carolina University

Product planner vs production planner demographics

Here are the differences between product planners' and production planners' demographics:

	Product Planner	Production Planner
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 57.2% Female, 42.8%	Male, 60.0% Female, 40.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 18.1% Asian, 7.4% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	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	11%	11%

Differences between product planner and production planner duties and responsibilities

Product planner example responsibilities.

Manage company MRP purchases including contractor and consultant contract review.
Perform financial forecasting, leveraging MRP to plan performance of products and evaluate ROI of raw materials.
Task with supervising raw materials suppliers for computer test equipment construction using several ERP systems.
Support implementation of new ERP system (MFGPRO Eb2) relate to engineering procurement systems and processes.
Set up KANBAN to assure the steady flow of parts without stock outs as well as growing inventories.
Work collaboratively with purchasing, production, engineering, quality control, BOM analysts, buyers, and suppliers.

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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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Product planner vs production planner skills

Common product planner skills

Product Development, 9%
Product Planning, 7%
Product Line, 7%
Logistics, 5%
MRP, 4%
Product Management, 4%

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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