Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

• Package the product in the form in which it will be sent out, for example, filling bags with flour from a chute or spout.
• Clean, oil, and make minor adjustments or repairs to machinery and equipment, such as opening valves or setting guides.
• Regulate machine flow, speed, or temperature.
• Stack finished packaged items, or wrap protective material around each item, and pack the items in cartons or containers.
• Stock and sort product for packaging or filling machine operation, and replenish packaging supplies, such as wrapping paper, plastic sheet, boxes, cartons, glue, ink, or labels.
• Count and record finished and rejected packaged items.
• Clean packaging containers, line and pad crates, or assemble cartons to prepare for product packing.
• Sort, grade, weigh, and inspect products, verifying and adjusting product weight or measurement to meet specifications.
• Stack finished packaged items, or wrap protective material around each item, and pack the items in cartons or containers.
• Clean, oil, and make minor adjustments or repairs to machinery and equipment, such as opening valves or setting guides.
• Stock and sort product for packaging or filling machine operation, and replenish packaging supplies, such as wrapping paper, plastic sheet, boxes, cartons, glue, ink, or labels.
• Stop or reset machines when malfunctions occur, clear machine jams, and report malfunctions to a supervisor.
• Observe machine operations to ensure quality and conformity of filled or packaged products to standards.
• Stop or reset machines when malfunctions occur, clear machine jams, and report malfunctions to a supervisor.
• Sort, grade, weigh, and inspect products, verifying and adjusting product weight or measurement to meet specifications.
• Inspect and remove defective products and packaging material.
• Adjust machine components and machine tension and pressure according to size or processing angle of product.
• Clean and remove damaged or otherwise inferior materials to prepare raw products for processing.
• Monitor the production line, watching for problems such as pile-ups, jams, or glue that isn't sticking properly.
• Sort, grade, weigh, and inspect products, verifying and adjusting product weight or measurement to meet specifications.
• Remove finished packaged items from machine and separate rejected items.
• Start machine by engaging controls.
• Supply materials to spindles, conveyors, hoppers, or other feeding devices and unload packaged product.
• Tend or operate machine that packages product.
• Clean, oil, and make minor adjustments or repairs to machinery and equipment, such as opening valves or setting guides.
• Count and record finished and rejected packaged items.
• Secure finished packaged items by hand tying, sewing, gluing, stapling, or attaching fastener.
• Secure finished packaged items by hand tying, sewing, gluing, stapling, or attaching fastener.
• Attach identification labels to finished packaged items, or cut stencils and stencil information on containers, such as lot numbers or shipping destinations.

Skills

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

Abilities

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

Knowledge

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

Education

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

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Education and Training Opportunities

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Pay

Washington Annual Salary

40580/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

19.51/hr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

8,860

Yearly Projected Openings

1090

Personality

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

• Attention to Detail
• Dependability

Tools

• Adjustable wrenches
• Calipers
• Claw hammer
• Desktop computers
• Floor or platform scales
• Forklifts
• Glue guns
• Hand trucks or accessories
• Label making machines
• Lifts
• Locking pliers
• Pallet trucks
• Personal computers
• Power drills
• Razor knives
• Scanners
• Screwdrivers
• Sewing machines
• Staple guns
• Stencils or lettering aids
• Step stool
• Tape measures
• Thickness measuring devices
• Utility knives
• Wire brushes

Technology

• Electronic mail software
• Enterprise resource planning ERP software
• Label making software
• Office suite software
• Presentation software
• Spreadsheet software
• Word processing software