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The differences between production technicians and set up technicians 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 technician and a set up technician. Additionally, a production technician has an average salary of $37,550, which is higher than the $36,486 average annual salary of a set up technician.
The top three skills for a production technician include hand tools, preventative maintenance and quality checks. The most important skills for a set up technician are hand tools, CNC, and safety procedures.
| Production Technician | Set Up Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $37,550 | $36,486 |
| Hourly rate | $18.05 | $17.54 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 135,266 | 53,072 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 34% | High School Diploma, 39% |
| Average age | 45 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 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.
Set up technicians are skilled employees who assemble and disassemble manufacturing machines as well as perform preventative maintenance to ensure that the manufacturing firm can produce high-quality products. These technicians must inspect products so that they can locate malfunctions in machine operations and then inform their supervisor about the repairs needed. They must observe production equipment to ensure its correct operation and collaborate with the engineering team to adjust the equipment when needed. Set up technicians must also assist in teaching new operators about the firm's standard operating procedures of production equipment.
Production technicians and set up technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Production Technician | Set Up Technician | |
| Average salary | $37,550 | $36,486 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $49,000 | Between $28,000 And $46,000 |
| Highest paying City | Frederick, MD | Manchester, NH |
| Highest paying state | Maryland | New York |
| Best paying company | Cornerstone Research | Zoetis |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Professional |
There are a few differences between a production technician and a set up technician in terms of educational background:
| Production Technician | Set Up Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 34% | High School Diploma, 39% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | - |
Here are the differences between production technicians' and set up technicians' demographics:
| Production Technician | Set Up Technician | |
| Average age | 45 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 71.4% Female, 28.6% | Male, 90.1% Female, 9.9% |
| 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, 10.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 15.3% Asian, 8.9% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 11% |