How to become a Production Control Clerk
Also called: Process control clerk, Production management clerk, Product cost control clerk
Does the office work that comes with production and process control, such as entering data and preparing documents.
Main tasks
- Checking progress on the production process
- Sharing information within the group (the previous day's shipping data, work progress and so on)
- Checking work weekly and monthly
- Drawing up production plans to meet customers' requirements
- Ordering parts and checking deliveries
- Ordering materials and outsourced items and handling deliveries
- Reporting on the situation to the production control manager
- Passing on the production control manager's instructions to the shop floor
- Coordinating with the company's manufacturing departments
- Managing production status
- Managing the quality of products
- Managing suppliers
- Managing costs
- Negotiating prices of purchased items
- Handling irregular cases such as requests to change quality standards or delivery dates
- Preparing manufacturing specification documents
- Managing safety in the factory
- Answering the phone and looking after visitors
Workers in this job say university or high school is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.
How to become one
No particular education or qualification is required to start. New graduates complete induction training and then build practical experience on the job. A related qualification is the Business Career Test (production management) run by the Japan Vocational Ability Development Association. As well as general administrative skills, you need cooperation and communication skills to coordinate smoothly within the company and with suppliers. You also need the analytical skills to understand the state of the production process accurately from data.
Pay · Job openings · AI and this job
- Average annual income: ¥5,436,000 Private sector only: employers with 10 or more staff. Public servants, such as public school teachers and police officers, are not in these figures.
- Monthly base pay (before overtime and bonus): median ¥297,000, and the middle half earn ¥242,000 to ¥378,200 a month.
- Pay measured for the wage survey group: Production-related clerical workers
- 1.39 job openings per applicant at Hello Work (2025). A current demand signal, not a projection. It counts only the jobs and job seekers registered at Hello Work, Japan's public employment offices, and many graduate and professional hires never pass through it.
- Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.
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Questions people ask
How do I become a Production Control Clerk?
No particular education or qualification is required to start. New graduates complete induction training and then build practical experience on the job. A related qualification is the Business Career Test (production management) run by the Japan Vocational Ability Development Association. As well as general administrative skills, you need cooperation and communication skills to coordinate smoothly within the company and with suppliers. You also need the analytical skills to understand the state of the production process accurately from data.
How much does a Production Control Clerk earn in Japan?
Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥5,436,000 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Production-related clerical workers, which covers several jobs.
Do you need a degree to become a Production Control Clerk?
Not always. In this job's census occupation group, 39% of workers are university graduates.
Will AI change the work of a Production Control Clerk?
Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Basic Survey on Wage Structure (賃金構造基本統計調査) 2025: earnings by occupation (2025 survey (June 2025 pay, 2024 bonus), published 2026-03-24), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Employment Referrals for General Workers (一般職業紹介状況): Hello Work job-openings-to-applicants ratio by occupation (2025 annual (release of 2026-10-02)), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Statistics Bureau of Japan (MIC): 2020 Population Census (令和2年国勢調査) detailed sample tabulation: employed by occupation, sex, age and education (2020 Census (tables 9-1 and 15-1, published 2022-12-27)), Government Standard Terms of Use 2.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- JILPT (職業情報データベース) via MHLW job tag: job tag download data: 解説系 (descriptions, how to become, related qualifications) and 簡易版数値系 (interests, tasks, education) (解説系 ver.7.01 (2026-06-04); 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00 (2026-03-17)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成
独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成
Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.
Updated 4 October 2026