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The differences between senior packaging engineers and production engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a senior packaging engineer and a production engineer. Additionally, a senior packaging engineer has an average salary of $100,060, which is higher than the $89,727 average annual salary of a production engineer.
The top three skills for a senior packaging engineer include project management, package development and FDA. The most important skills for a production engineer are java, continuous improvement, and lean manufacturing.
| Senior Packaging Engineer | Production Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $100,060 | $89,727 |
| Hourly rate | $48.11 | $43.14 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 47,700 | 94,789 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A senior packaging designer specializes in designing and developing cost-effective and functional packaging containers for different goods, such as clothing, toys, electronics, appliances, and more. They conduct extensive market research and assessments to create concepts, understand and identify project requirements, study competitors and consumers, and develop prototypes, subjecting them to different inspections and quality tests to ensure quality. Additionally, as a senior packaging designer, they oversee procedures from planning to execution and empower junior designers while implementing standards and regulations.
A production engineer is responsible for monitoring the production operations, ensuring everyone's adherence to safety protocols, and evaluating the staff's performance, strategizing on maximizing productivity to deliver efficient results that would drive revenues and increase profitability. Production engineers inspect the reliability of production equipment and machinery, conducting preventive maintenance, and repair inconsistencies to prevent production delays. They also identify areas of improvement with the manufacturing processes and escalate best practices for improvement. A production engineer must be knowledgeable about technological advancements and incorporate ideas to minimize costs without sacrificing the quality of services.
Senior packaging engineers and production engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Packaging Engineer | Production Engineer | |
| Average salary | $100,060 | $89,727 |
| Salary range | Between $74,000 And $133,000 | Between $64,000 And $125,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Revlon | Cheniere Energy |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior packaging engineer and a production engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Packaging Engineer | Production Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Most common major | Engineering And Industrial Management | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | New York University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between senior packaging engineers' and production engineers' demographics:
| Senior Packaging Engineer | Production Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 82.4% Female, 17.6% | Male, 86.7% Female, 13.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 15.2% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 10.5% Asian, 15.4% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 4% | 4% |