Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Set up, operate, or tend forging machines to taper, shape, or form metal or plastic parts.
Most important skills
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Monitoring
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Equipment Maintenance
Key knowledge
- Production and Processing
- Mechanical
- Mathematics
- English Language
- Education and Training
- Administration and Management
- Computers and Electronics
- Chemistry
What the work involves
- Measure and inspect machined parts to ensure conformance to product specifications.
- Read work orders or blueprints to determine specified tolerances and sequences of operations for machine setup.
- Start machines to produce sample workpieces, and observe operations to detect machine malfunctions and to verify that machine setups conform to specifications.
- Turn handles or knobs to set pressures and depths of ram strokes and to synchronize machine operations.
- Confer with other workers about machine setups and operational 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.
- Trim and compress finished forgings to specified tolerances.
- Remove dies from machines when production runs are finished.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (82.4% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- None (43%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (38%)
- 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 Forging 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 | Very low | Lower on contact with others than 94% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 98% of occupations compared | — |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 98% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Moderate | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 57% of occupations compared | 46% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Lower on time pressure than 56% of occupations compared | 54% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 99% of occupations compared | 80% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 93% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Higher on consequence of error than 58% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very low
- Consequence of error: moderate
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: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 46.44%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 5.23%
- Constant contact with others: 48.33%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly important: 4.98%
- Important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very important: 0%
- Extremely important: 0.7%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 39.4%
- Fairly important: 1.88%
- Important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very important: 3.8%
- Extremely important: 24.61%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 6.22%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 7.55%
- Some freedom: 40%
- A lot of freedom: 46.24%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 34.58%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 6.34%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 5.23%
- Every day: 53.85%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 80.12%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 9.72%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0.7%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 8.76%
- Every day: 0.7%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: 4.98%
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 3.1%
- Every day: 7.86%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 24.67%
- Fairly serious: 1.39%
- Serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very serious: 10.68%
- Extremely serious: 27.49%
n = 17, Incumbent 08/2026
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O*NET-SOC 51-4022.00 · SOC 51-4022 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8