Extruding & Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic

Also Called:

Equipment Technician,

Extruder Operator,

Extrusion Press Operator,

Machine Operator

What they do: Set up, operate, or tend machines to extrude or draw thermoplastic or metal materials into tubes, rods, hoses, wire, bars, or structural shapes.

Advanced Manufacturing icon

Advanced Manufacturing

Career Cluster

What do they typically do on the job?

  • Measure and examine extruded products to locate defects and to check for conformance to specifications, adjusting controls as necessary to alter products.
  • Determine setup procedures and select machine dies and parts, according to specifications.
  • Start machines and set controls to regulate vacuum, air pressure, sizing rings, and temperature, and to synchronize speed of extrusion.

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.

Attention to Detail

Dependability

Cautiousness

Interests

Career interests describe the perspectives and interests of people who enjoy the type of work involved in this career.

Discover what your interests are by taking the Interest Profiler Quiz

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Realistic

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Conventional

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Investigative

Abilities

Whether you have received formal training or not, these types of abilities are helpful in this career.

Controlled Movement

  • Quickly change the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat

  • Use your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down

Hand and Finger Use

  • Hold or move items with your hands

  • Keep your arm or hand steady

Endurance

  • Exercise for a long time without getting out of breath

Skills

People who want to pursue this career have skills in these areas.

Basic Skills

  • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements

  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem

Problem Solving

  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Does this sound like something you'd like to do?

1. Do some research

  • Identify how your interests, values, and strengths match this occupation
  • Talk to someone who works in this field or spend a day job shadowing
  • Use the colleges and training directory to explore programs related to this career

2. Plan your next move

  • Talk to your college and career counselor or school admissions staff
  • Visit Idaho Launch
  • Search for available Extruding & Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic jobs on Idaho Works

Data for NSI career cards comes from the following: Idaho Department of Labor, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, O*NET, MyNextMove, and Career OneStop