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Career Details : Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters and Set-Up Operators

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Description

Set up or set up and operate machines, such as glass forming machines, plodder machines, and tuber machines, to manufacture any of a wide variety of products, such as soap bars, formed rubber, glassware, food, brick, and tile, by means of extruding, compressing, or compacting.

Experience

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience may be helpful in these occupations, but usually is not needed. For example, a drywall installer might benefit from experience installing drywall, but an inexperienced person could still learn to be an installer with little difficulty.

Education

These occupations usually require a high school diploma and may require some vocational training or job-related course work. In some cases, an associate's or bachelor's degree could be needed.

Training

Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees.

Tasks

  • Removes products from discharge belts and molds, mold components, and feeder tubes from machines.
  • Ignites burner to preheat product or applies heat, using torch.
  • Threads extruded strip through water tank and hold-down bars or attaches strands to wire and draws through tube.
  • Observes operation of machine and product to detect and diagnose cause of faulty operation and monitors gauges and recorders.
  • Cleans dies, arbors, compression chambers, and molds, using swabs, sponge, or air hose, and swabs molds with solution to prevent sticking.
  • Collects, examines, measures, weighs, and tests product to verify machine setup and conformance of product to specifications.
  • Installs, aligns, and adjusts neck rings, press plungers, and feeder tubes to molds to deliver material and form product.
  • Records product information, such as scrap quantity, machine number, and ingredients, to complete work ticket and places tickets with product.
  • Pours, scoops, or dumps specified ingredients, metal assemblies, or mixtures into sections of machine prior to starting machine.
  • Installs dies or molds in machines to produce products from variety of materials, according to work order and specifications.
  • Feeds product into machine by hand or conveyor.
  • Synchronizes speed of sections of machine when producing products involving several steps or processes.
  • Adjusts timer drum to set size of product material and rollers, cutoff knives, and stops to regulate thickness and length.
  • Routes sample to lab for analysis, according to procedure.
  • Presses control button to activate machinery and equipment.
  • Disassembles and repairs machinery and equipment.
  • Couples air and gas lines to machine to maintain plasticity of material and to regulate solidification of final product.
  • Operates machines and notifies supervisor or setup personnel of needed adjustments to machines.
  • Selects and measures arbors and dies to verify size specified on work ticket.
  • Turns controls to control machine functions, such as regulate air pressure, create vacuum, and coolant flow.

    Related Careers

    Important Abilities

    General Work Activities

    Important Skills

    Frequent Work Context

    • Degree of Automation
    • Consequence of Error
    • Pace Determined by Speed of Equipment
    • Indoors
    • Importance of Being Sure All Is Done

    Related Majors

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    Industrial Maintenanceadd Industrial Maintenance to MyFSA
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