Metal/Plastic Working Machine Operator
A Metal/Plastic Working Machine Operator is a crucial role within the manufacturing industry, responsible for operating and maintaining machinery that shapes and forms metal and plastic materials. These operators play an integral part in producing components used in various applications, including automotive manufacturing and consumer products. Typically employed in factory settings, they must adhere to safety standards and wear personal protective equipment due to the noise and potential hazards present.
The job requires moderate on-the-job training, with a willingness to learn new skills being essential for advancement. While formal education is not strictly necessary, having a high school diploma or related experience can enhance employment opportunities. Operators often work in teams and may be required to work shifts, including evenings and weekends. Their daily responsibilities range from setting up machines—adjusting operations based on blueprints—to monitoring production output and performing minor maintenance.
As technology evolves, operators increasingly engage with computerized systems, necessitating a foundational understanding of software related to machine operations. Overall, this role appeals to individuals interested in hands-on work with machinery in a collaborative environment.
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Subject Terms
Metal/Plastic Working Machine Operator
Snapshot
Career Cluster(s): Manufacturing
Interests: Machinery, working with your hands, working as part of a team
Earnings (Yearly Median): $44,880 per year $21.58 per hour
Employment & Outlook: -6% (Decline)
Entry-Level Education None
Related Work Experience None
On-the-job-Training Moderate-term on-the-job training
Overview
Sphere of Work. Metal and plastic working machine operators work in all the manufacturing industries. They operate machines that create metal or plastic parts or materials in an industrial process that comprises cutting, shaping, and forming metal and plastic to manufacture the desired end products. Their work includes setting up the machines needed to carry out the process.
The products manufactured by metal and plastic working machine operators are essential for a modern industrial society. They are used for thousands of applications in engine building, consumer products, instruments, avionics, and automotive manufacturing. Despite increasing computerized processes, human control of metal and plastic working machines is still essential, particularly when setting up the machines and monitoring their output.
Work Environment. The most common workplace for metal and plastic working machine operators is a factory. There, metal and plastic working machine operators work next to their machines, located in designated production areas, tool rooms, or job shops. This industrial setting includes some noise, and personal protective equipment must be worn. Adherence to safety standards is required.
Regular working hours correspond to the norm in manufacturing, generally forty hours a week. However, overtime is common, and workers must be prepared for shift work, including evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays.
Occupation Interest. The occupation appeals to people interested in working with industrial factory machines. These people should be willing to work shifts and work overtime when required.
There are few formal educational requirements, but there is a strong emphasis on on-the-job training. A high school degree is not required, but having a degree enhances the applicant’s chances for initial employment. Willingness and the ability to learn new skills while working are essential for the position's advancement. Teamwork on the factory floor is also required.
A Day in the Life—Duties and Responsibilities. The working day of a metal or plastic working machine operator depends on work orders. Work varies depending on whether the worker sets up machines or operates them; many skilled workers can perform both tasks.
Set up requires preparing the metal or plastic working machine for the desired production run. Work orders or blueprints contain instructions to set specific product manufacturing tolerances and sequence machine operations.
Set up can entail installing specific dies in the machine. After set up, the setter performs trial runs. Here, a setter examines machine operations and watches for vibrations and the products' quality. If necessary, the setter adjusts the speed or actions of the machine and may realign its processes. At the end of a specific production run, a setter may remove and change dies to set up the device for its subsequent operations.
Operating and tending a metal or plastic working machine often includes loading it with the materials for production. After starting the engine, the operator must constantly monitor its performance. The operator controls and adjusts the machine's operations, aligning its operating speed or the specific work processes. Operators are responsible for minor maintenance, such as lubricating and cleaning their devices.
The operator must check and test the output of the machine. For flawed products, the operator should try to determine the causes and begin troubleshooting the machine's operations. Operators must be able to fix minor machine problems and determine when to call in a mechanic.
Often, operators are responsible for ensuring the correct transport of the manufactured products. Operators will document the work of their machines, generally in an electronic database. Both setters and operators must leave their working areas clean and tidy.
Milling-Machine Tenders (605.685-030). Milling-machine tenders set up and operate various types of milling machines to mill flat or curved surfaces on metal workpieces, such as machine, tool, or die parts.
Work Environment
Immediate Physical Environment. The most common workplace for metal and plastic working machine operators is within a factory, which includes noise, dirt, and possible hazards from operating industrial machines. Appropriate personal protective equipment—such as safety glasses, earplugs, or steel-toed industrial boots—must be worn. A respirator may sometimes be required to protect a worker from inhaling harmful fumes.
Plant Environment. Most factories seek to minimize their workers’ exposure to noise and dirt. They tend to be located in industrial parts of urban areas, although some can be found in a more suburban or remote setting.
Human Environment. Work in a factory entails daily contact with fellow workers, and most metal and plastic working machine operators work in teams. Setters may confer with colleagues about their tasks. There is a growing organizational tendency to build teams of operators who rotate among different machines.
Technological Environment. Metal and plastic working machines are complex industrial manufacturing equipment. A setter or operator should have a basic understanding of their operating technology and be able to manipulate and control an advanced technical machine. Increasingly, setup, operations, and control are performed digitally. Metal and plastic working machine operators may also be required to use procedure management software like Hexagon Metrology PC-DMIS or Optical Gaging Products Measure-X.
Education, Training, and Advancement
High School/Secondary. While not required, a high school degree or GED certificate significantly increases an applicant’s chances for employment in this occupation. This is especially true for obtaining a first job.
In high school, a student should take a group of classes with a technical focus. Such courses may include blueprint reading, machining technology, metals technology, and industrial arts. Applied and shop mathematics, applied physics, and shop classes are also helpful. A chemistry class provides an understanding of the science behind plastics. English and communication classes are useful. Computer literacy is essential and can be gained from a course in computer science.
For an introduction to the field, summer work as a production assistant or a laborer in a factory with metal or plastic working operating machines is useful. It also provides early experience in the occupation. Experience can also be gained from internships organized by a high school or offered by companies in the manufacturing industry.
Postsecondary. This occupation does not require any postsecondary education. However, there are community colleges that offer training and certification programs in operating metal and plastic working machines. The National Institute for Metalworking Skills also offers certifications for metal and plastic working machine operators interested in specific metalworking specializations.
The US Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship recognizes eleven apprenticeships for this occupation. These include multioperation-machine operators, spring coiling machine setters, extruder operators, heavy forgers, or roll operators.
To advance in the field, individuals must gain a more profound knowledge of computerized machine operations, which can be gained from attending courses in computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), or computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines.
Related Occupations
− Computer-Control Machine Tool Operator
− Welder
Bibliography
"Layout Workers, Metal and Plastic." My Next Move, 2024, www.mynextmove.org/profile/summary/51-4192.00. Accessed 23 Aug. 2024.
"Metal and Plastic Machine Worker." US Department of Energy, 2024, www.energy.gov/eere/water/metal-and-plastic-machine-worker. Accessed 23 Aug. 2024.
“Metal and Plastic Machine Workers.” Occupational Outlook Handbook. Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor, 17 Apr. 2024, www.bls.gov/ooh/production/metal-and-plastic-machine-workers.htm. Accessed 23 Aug. 2024.