Production controller vs inventory planner

The differences between production controllers and inventory 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 controller and an inventory planner. Additionally, an inventory planner has an average salary of $65,504, which is higher than the $53,125 average annual salary of a production controller.

The top three skills for a production controller include production control, production planning and logistics. The most important skills for an inventory planner are supply chain, purchase orders, and logistics.

Production controller vs inventory planner overview

	Production Controller	Inventory Planner
Yearly salary	$53,125	$65,504
Hourly rate	$25.54	$31.49
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	71,747	37,034
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	2	2

What does a production controller do?

A production controller is in charge of overseeing manufacturing operations, ensuring the workflow adheres to the quality standards, budgets, and deadlines. It is their duty to develop production and inventory control techniques, coordinate with managers to establish objectives and guidelines, review production plans and job orders, and supervise the supply chain operations. They also monitor every procedure, implement solutions in problem areas, and produce progress reports as needed. Furthermore, as a production controller, it is essential to maintain an active communication line with the production team while implementing the company's protocols and policies.

What does an inventory planner do?

An inventory planner is an individual who is responsible for creating effective inventory plans and strategies to maximize profitability for an organization. Inventory planners are required to produce documents that detail the quantity specifications of the organization's product or equipment. They must maintain their files updated about the inventory by recording them into the organization's databases to avoid possible discrepancies. Inventory planners must also predict future inventory needs and producing plans for buying based on forecasts and sales data.

Production controller vs inventory planner salary

Production controllers and inventory planners have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Production Controller	Inventory Planner
Average salary	$53,125	$65,504
Salary range	Between $37,000 And $74,000	Between $45,000 And $93,000
Highest paying City	Fremont, CA	San Bruno, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Intuitive Surgical	Entegris
Best paying industry	Technology	Technology

Differences between production controller and inventory planner education

There are a few differences between a production controller and an inventory planner in terms of educational background:

	Production Controller	Inventory Planner
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	Western Carolina University

Production controller vs inventory planner demographics

Here are the differences between production controllers' and inventory planners' demographics:

	Production Controller	Inventory Planner
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 64.0% Female, 36.0%	Male, 53.0% Female, 47.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 7.0% White, 60.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 17.3% Asian, 7.1% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between production controller and inventory planner duties and responsibilities

Production controller example responsibilities.

Manage multiple windows to access accurate inventory, P.O numbers and job numbers.
Schedule production and manage inventory of raw materials and finish products using the MRP inventory control system.
Manage production order releases base on space, capacity, man power and indenture BOM build schemes.
Provide management with visibility of material shortages, backlogs, manage WIP variances and other potential schedule conflicts.
Manage warehouse and shipping departments, responsible for outsourcing secondary machining of materials, purchasing MRO supplies and logistics.
Flight line expediter ensures maintenance accomplishment and sortie production by managing, controlling and directing allocate resources and personnel.

Inventory planner example responsibilities.

Develop process to manage import orders to manage time and inventory more effectively JDA E3 certify.
Participate in SIOP meeting and coordinate with all function teams and regional/global team to achieve corporate KPI.
Develop and implement purchasing and contract management, policies and procedures and manage ISO documents and improvements.
Review stock levels, imbalances and data integrity in JDA to ensure the supply plan is generating accurate information.
Handle complex monthly reconciliations and daily/weekly journal entries to ensure AR balance accuracy.
Facilitate communication channels between the sales groups and corporate logistics to drive improve demand forecast.

Production controller vs inventory planner skills

Common production controller skills

Production Control, 28%
Production Planning, 14%
Logistics, 6%
Control Procedures, 5%
Production Schedules, 3%
MRP, 3%

Common inventory planner skills

Supply Chain, 12%
Purchase Orders, 9%
Logistics, 8%
Manage Inventory, 8%
Inventory Planning, 7%
Historical Data, 4%

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Production Controller vs Inventory Planner

Updated January 8, 2025

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