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The differences between supply chain planners and buyers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a supply chain planner, becoming a buyer takes usually requires More than 10 years. Additionally, a supply chain planner has an average salary of $80,668, which is higher than the $54,049 average annual salary of a buyer.
The top three skills for a supply chain planner include supply chain, customer service and supply chain planning. The most important skills for a buyer are purchase orders, customer service, and logistics.
| Supply Chain Planner | Buyer | |
| Yearly salary | $80,668 | $54,049 |
| Hourly rate | $38.78 | $25.99 |
| Growth rate | 28% | - |
| Number of jobs | 36,145 | 23,589 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | - |
The job of supply chain planners, or logisticians, is to plan, develop, and schedule project management tools in support of an organization's operations. They are responsible for managing and monitoring inventories, forecasting production and sales levels, and tracking response time and delivery performance. Other duties include analyzing the levels of finished products, developing and monitoring production plans, and generating reports. Supply chain planners are also responsible for supervising other team members and ensuring that customer service best practices are followed.
A buyer's duties include product sourcing and comparing resources for the best product range that would suit the specific needs of the business. Buyers must have excellent communication and negotiation skills to evaluate items that most likely benefit the customer and improve the sales of daily operations with cost-efficient products. They also conduct extensive research for market and price trends while considering the highest quality standards. Buyers should also possess strong analytical skills to create purchase orders and statistical analysis.
Supply chain planners and buyers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Supply Chain Planner | Buyer | |
| Average salary | $80,668 | $54,049 |
| Salary range | Between $58,000 And $110,000 | Between $37,000 And $76,000 |
| Highest paying City | Richmond, CA | Englewood, NJ |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | NVIDIA |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a supply chain planner and a buyer in terms of educational background:
| Supply Chain Planner | Buyer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | California State University - Bakersfield |
Here are the differences between supply chain planners' and buyers' demographics:
| Supply Chain Planner | Buyer | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 55.0% Female, 45.0% | Male, 43.9% Female, 56.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.8% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 3.1% Hispanic or Latino, 10.0% Asian, 6.7% White, 75.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 15% |