Production
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
Set up, operate, or tend machines to extrude or draw thermoplastic or metal materials into tubes, rods, hoses, wire, bars, or structural shapes.
Median pay
$47,720
Growth to 2035
+1%
little or no change
Openings a year
5,400
Time to qualify*
6 months
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
- Prior experience
- None
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time standing
Outdoors in all weather
Hazardous conditions
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic: 67% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- Measure and examine extruded products to locate defects and to check for conformance to specifications, adjusting controls as necessary to alter products.
- Start machines and set controls to regulate vacuum, air pressure, sizing rings, and temperature, and to synchronize speed of extrusion.
- Determine setup procedures and select machine dies and parts, according to specifications.
- Troubleshoot, maintain, and make minor repairs to equipment.
- Change dies on extruding machines, according to production line changes.
- Load machine hoppers with mixed materials, using augers, or stuff rolls of plastic dough into machine cylinders.
- Install dies, machine screws, and sizing rings on machines that extrude thermoplastic or metal materials.
- Operate shearing mechanisms to cut rods to specified lengths.
Also called: Equipment Technician (Equipment Tech) · Extruder Operator · Extrusion Line Operator · Extrusion Operator · Extrusion Press Operator · Machine Operator · Metal Inspector · Setup Operator
Outlook and AI
Extruding and drawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic held 60,900 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 61,400 by 2035 (+1%, little or no change; all jobs: +3.5%).
Productivity change - share decreases as more processes can be performed by programmed machinery and improvements in software and equipment are expected to increase efficiency, allowing more output to be produced with the same amount of labor.
Compare with
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