Production control clerk vs production planner

The differences between production control clerks 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 production control clerk and a production planner. Additionally, a production planner has an average salary of $60,390, which is higher than the $36,983 average annual salary of a production control clerk.

The top three skills for a production control clerk include data entry, production reports and customer orders. The most important skills for a production planner are customer service, MRP, and ERP.

Production control clerk vs production planner overview

	Production Control Clerk	Production Planner
Yearly salary	$36,983	$60,390
Hourly rate	$17.78	$29.03
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	150,965	68,717
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 33%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	2	2

What does a production control clerk do?

Production control clerks will need to possess skills in data, entry, drafting customer supports and orders, dealing with production workers, and handling material inventory records. Also, clerical skills are a plus. This career calls for the reviewing and distribution of production work and shipment schedules, conferring with department supervisors on work progress and dates of completion, as well as the compilation of work progress reports, inventory levels, costs, and any issues in production.

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.

Production control clerk vs production planner salary

Production control clerks and production planners have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Production Control Clerk	Production Planner
Average salary	$36,983	$60,390
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $51,000	Between $44,000 And $81,000
Highest paying City	Harrisburg, PA	Newark, CA
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	Washington
Best paying company	Fortive	Intuitive Surgical
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Energy

Differences between production control clerk and production planner education

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

	Production Control Clerk	Production Planner
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 33%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Production control clerk vs production planner demographics

Here are the differences between production control clerks' and production planners' demographics:

	Production Control Clerk	Production Planner
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 32.7% Female, 67.3%	Male, 60.0% Female, 40.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 7.0% White, 60.7% 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 production control clerk and production planner duties and responsibilities

Production control clerk example responsibilities.

Manage warehouse and shipping departments, responsible for outsourcing secondary machining of materials, purchasing MRO supplies and logistics.
Create shippers and labels, manually or electronically in EDI.
Operate CNC Router/Engraver to produce ADA compliant signs, plaques.
Receive and process order information from customers via e-mail and EDI.
Assist in the setup & programming of CNC machines for production.
Research, recommend, set up and maintain the company's new ERP system.

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.

Production control clerk vs production planner skills

Common production control clerk skills

Data Entry, 11%
Production Reports, 11%
Customer Orders, 10%
Production Sheets, 9%
Product Specifications, 8%
Logistics, 7%

Common production planner skills

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

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Production Control Clerk
Production Control Clerk vs Production Planner

Updated January 8, 2025

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