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The differences between production technicians and operations technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an operations technician has an average salary of $40,899, which is higher than the $37,550 average annual salary of a production technician.
The top three skills for a production technician include hand tools, preventative maintenance and quality checks. The most important skills for an operations technician are customer service, hand tools, and preventative maintenance.
| Production Technician | Operations Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $37,550 | $40,899 |
| Hourly rate | $18.05 | $19.66 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 135,266 | 191,960 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 34% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Average age | 45 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | - |
A production technician is an individual who is responsible for assembling and testing manufactured goods before they are marketed to the general public. Production technicians usually work with manufacturing and quality assurance personnel to ensure that high-quality work standards are implemented by workers. By maintaining high-quality work, production technicians must implement up-to-date, efficient methods of production as well as production equipment maintenance procedures. They also schedule training for workers and educate them regularly on health and safety regulations.
An operations technician is a plant employee responsible for monitoring and operating facilities of work platforms in a firm. To ensure supply availability and reduce rig downtime, operations technicians collaborate with engineers to troubleshoot mechanical problems and perform maintenance. They promote production safety by implementing instructions and procedures following the company's safety and environmental standards. They also maintain records of equipment history and report accidents to the appropriate personnel.
Production technicians and operations technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Production Technician | Operations Technician | |
| Average salary | $37,550 | $40,899 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $49,000 | Between $30,000 And $55,000 |
| Highest paying City | Frederick, MD | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Maryland | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Cornerstone Research | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Energy |
There are a few differences between a production technician and an operations technician in terms of educational background:
| Production Technician | Operations Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 34% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | - |
Here are the differences between production technicians' and operations technicians' demographics:
| Production Technician | Operations Technician | |
| Average age | 45 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 71.4% Female, 28.6% | Male, 79.5% Female, 20.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 7.5% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 3.3% White, 62.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 4% |