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Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Set up, operate, or tend forging machines to taper, shape, or form metal or plastic parts.

Related: Cutting, Punching, & Press Machine Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic Lathe & Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, & Tenders, Metal & Plastic Tool & Die Makers Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, & Tenders

Industries: Manufacturing

Summary
Details

Install, adjust, and remove dies, synchronizing cams, forging hammers, and stop guides, using overhead cranes or other hoisting devices, and hand tools.
Position and move metal wires or workpieces through a series of dies that compress and shape stock to form die impressions.
Repair, maintain, and replace parts on dies.
Confer with other workers about machine setups and operational specifications.
Remove dies from machines when production runs are finished.
Repair, maintain, and replace parts on dies.
Select, align, and bolt positioning fixtures, stops, and specified dies to rams and anvils, forging rolls, or presses and hammers.
Measure and inspect machined parts to ensure conformance to product specifications.
Start machines to produce sample workpieces, and observe operations to detect machine malfunctions and to verify that machine setups conform to specifications.
Set up, operate, or tend presses and forging machines to perform hot or cold forging by flattening, straightening, bending, cutting, piercing, or other operations to taper, shape, or form metal.
Read work orders or blueprints to determine specified tolerances and sequences of operations for machine setup.
Trim and compress finished forgings to specified tolerances.
Sharpen cutting tools and drill bits, using bench grinders.
Turn handles or knobs to set pressures and depths of ram strokes and to synchronize machine operations.
Select, align, and bolt positioning fixtures, stops, and specified dies to rams and anvils, forging rolls, or presses and hammers.
Set up, operate, or tend presses and forging machines to perform hot or cold forging by flattening, straightening, bending, cutting, piercing, or other operations to taper, shape, or form metal.
Repair, maintain, and replace parts on dies.
Select, align, and bolt positioning fixtures, stops, and specified dies to rams and anvils, forging rolls, or presses and hammers.
Sharpen cutting tools and drill bits, using bench grinders.
Install, adjust, and remove dies, synchronizing cams, forging hammers, and stop guides, using overhead cranes or other hoisting devices, and hand tools.
Start machines to produce sample workpieces, and observe operations to detect machine malfunctions and to verify that machine setups conform to specifications.

Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
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.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
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.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
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.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
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.
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.
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.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
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.
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.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

U.S. Annual Salary

49240/yr

U.S. Hourly Wage

23.67/hr

Currently Employed

Yearly Projected Openings

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Cautiousness
Attention to Detail
Dependability

Air hammer forging machine
Anvils
Belt conveyors
Bench grinder
Calipers
Drill press or radial drill
Drop hammer forging machine
Ear plugs
Facial shields
Feeler gauges
Forge die
Furnaces
Goggles
Hammers
Hoists
Hydraulic press brake
Impression and closed die forging press
Magnifying glass
Mallets
Metal band sawing machine
Metal cutters
Metal shearing machine
Micrometers
Nibblers
Overhead crane
Pneumatic drill
Power grinders
Power riveter
Power routers
Power sanders
Protective gloves
Protractors
Radius gauge
Roll forging machines
Rulers
Safety shoes
Screwdrivers
Shears
Squares
Tinners snips
Tongs
Torque wrenches
Trim press

Electronic mail software
Industrial control software
Inventory management software

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Statewide occupation search

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Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic

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