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.
Most important skills
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Monitoring
- Quality Control Analysis
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Coordination
- Equipment Maintenance
Key knowledge
- Production and Processing
- Public Safety and Security
- Mechanical
- English Language
- Education and Training
- Administration and Management
- Customer and Personal Service
- Engineering and Technology
What the work involves
- 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.
- Install dies, machine screws, and sizing rings on machines that extrude thermoplastic or metal materials.
- Change dies on extruding machines, according to production line changes.
- Start machines and set controls to regulate vacuum, air pressure, sizing rings, and temperature, and to synchronize speed of extrusion.
- Replace worn dies when products vary from specifications.
- Troubleshoot, maintain, and make minor repairs to equipment.
- Clean work areas.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (61.2% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- None (43.1%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (31.4%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Low | Lower on contact with others than 72% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “Contact with others most of the time” |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 95% of occupations compared | — |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Lower on teamwork than 54% of occupations compared | 51% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 76% of occupations compared | — |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 99% of occupations compared | 97% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 89% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 86% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Consequence of error | High | Higher on consequence of error than 73% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Very serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very low
- Consequence of error: high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 1.86%
- Occasional contact with others: 12.71%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 49.78%
- Constant contact with others: 35.65%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 23.17%
- Very important: 12.02%
- Extremely important: 0%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 1.86%
- Important: 22.86%
- Very important: 24.52%
- Extremely important: 50.77%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 9.82%
- Very little freedom: 2.2%
- Limited freedom: 13.1%
- Some freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- A lot of freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: 1.86%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0.1%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0.6%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 0.34%
- Every day: 97.1%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 1.99%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 13.5%
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 12.42%
- Every day: 35.24%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 37.72%
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: 23.27%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 12.81%
- Every day: 2.2%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 1.86%
- Fairly serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Serious: 24.71%
- Very serious: 48.16%
- Extremely serious: 12.22%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2026
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O*NET-SOC 51-4021.00 · SOC 51-4021 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8