About This Career

Sets up, operates, or tends more than one type of cutting or forming machine tool or robot.

This career is part of the Manufacturing cluster Production pathway.

A person in this career:

• Inspects workpieces for defects, and measures workpieces to determine accuracy of machine operation, using rules, templates, or other measuring instruments.
• Positions, adjusts, and secures stock material or workpieces against stops, on arbors, or in chucks, fixtures, or automatic feeding mechanisms, manually or using hoists.
• Reads blueprints or job orders to determine product specifications and tooling instructions and to plan operational sequences.
• Selects, installs, and adjusts alignment of drills, cutters, dies, guides, and holding devices, using templates, measuring instruments, and hand tools.
• Observes machine operation to detect workpiece defects or machine malfunctions, adjusting machines as necessary.
• Sets up and operates machines, such as lathes, cutters, shears, borers, millers, grinders, presses, drills, or auxiliary machines, to make metallic and plastic workpieces.
• Changes worn machine accessories, such as cutting tools or brushes, using hand tools.
• Sets machine stops or guides to specified lengths as indicated by scales, rules, or templates.
• Selects the proper coolants and lubricants and starts their flow.
• Removes burrs, sharp edges, rust, or scale from workpieces, using files, hand grinders, wire brushes, or power tools.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation requires being inside most of the time
• Work in this occupation involves standing more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Picking out a particular sound in the presence of other sounds
• Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching
• Seeing clearly at a distance
• Detecting sounds and hearing the differences between sounds of different pitch and loudness
• Seeing clearly up close
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person

Work Hours and Travel

• Overtime work
• Rotating shift work