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Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers
Set up, operate, or tend machines that extrude and form continuous filaments from synthetic materials, such as liquid polymer, rayon, and fiberglass.
Also Known As:
Extruder
Extruder Operator
Extrusion Line Operator
Extrusion Operator
Granulator
Hot End Operator
Pelletizer Operator
Pot Tipper
Spindraw Operator
Stretch Operator
Wages
Annual wages for Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers in United States
Job Outlook
Below Average
New job opportunities are less likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
15,000
-1% Change From 2024
Explore Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Press buttons to stop machines when processes are complete or when malfunctions are detected.
- Notify other workers of defects, and direct them to adjust extruding and forming machines.
- Move controls to activate and adjust extruding and forming machines.
- Observe machine operations, control boards, and gauges to detect malfunctions such as clogged bushings and defective binder applicators.
- Clean and maintain extruding and forming machines, using hand tools.
- Start metering pumps and observe operation of machines and equipment to ensure continuous flow of filaments extruded through spinnerettes and to detect processing defects.
- Notify other workers of defects, and direct them to adjust extruding and forming machines.
- Set up, operate, or tend machines that extrude and form filaments from synthetic materials such as rayon, fiberglass, or liquid polymers.
- Load materials into extruding and forming machines, using hand tools, and adjust feed mechanisms to set feed rates.
- Record details of machine malfunctions.
- Remove polymer deposits from spinnerettes and equipment, using silicone spray, brass chisels, and bronze-wool pads.
- Press metering-pump buttons and turn valves to stop flow of polymers.
- Remove excess, entangled, or completed filaments from machines, using hand tools.
- Wipe finish rollers with cloths and wash finish trays with water when necessary.
- Lower pans inside cabinets to catch molten filaments until flow of polymer through packs has stopped.
- Open cabinet doors to cut multifilament threadlines away from guides, using scissors.
- Load materials into extruding and forming machines, using hand tools, and adjust feed mechanisms to set feed rates.
- Clean and maintain extruding and forming machines, using hand tools.
- Observe flow of finish across finish rollers, and turn valves to adjust flow to specifications.
- Record operational data on tags, and attach tags to machines.
- Record operational data on tags, and attach tags to machines.
- Start metering pumps and observe operation of machines and equipment to ensure continuous flow of filaments extruded through spinnerettes and to detect processing defects.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")