Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Set up, operate, or tend metal or plastic molding, casting, or coremaking machines to mold or cast metal or thermoplastic parts or products.
Most important skills
- Operations Monitoring
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Quality Control Analysis
Key knowledge
- Production and Processing
- Mechanical
- Mathematics
- English Language
- Administration and Management
- Physics
- Computers and Electronics
- Engineering and Technology
What the work involves
- Observe continuous operation of automatic machines to ensure that products meet specifications and to detect jams or malfunctions, making adjustments as necessary.
- Measure and visually inspect products for surface and dimension defects to ensure conformance to specifications, using precision measuring instruments.
- Set up, operate, or tend metal or plastic molding, casting, or coremaking machines to mold or cast metal or thermoplastic parts or products.
- Turn valves and dials of machines to regulate pressure, temperature, and speed and feed rates, and to set cycle times.
- Observe meters and gauges to verify and record temperatures, pressures, and press-cycle times.
- Read specifications, blueprints, and work orders to determine setups, temperatures, and time settings required to mold, form, or cast plastic materials, as well as to plan production sequences.
- Remove parts, such as dies, from machines after production runs are finished.
- Connect water hoses to cooling systems of dies, using hand tools.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (57% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (22%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (27.6%)
- 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 Molding, Coremaking, and Casting 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 79% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 99% of occupations compared | 92% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 91% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 68% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Higher on time pressure than 58% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Low | Lower on conflict situations than 68% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 53% of occupations compared | 33% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | High | Higher on consequence of error than 62% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- 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: 4.73%
- Occasional contact with others: 8.55%
- Contact with others about half the time: 14.38%
- Contact with others most of the time: 33.42%
- Constant contact with others: 38.92%
n = 32, Incumbent 07/2016
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 91.69%
- Fairly important: 5.34%
- Important: 0.94%
- Very important: 0%
- Extremely important: 2.03%
n = 32, Incumbent 07/2016
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 12.02%
- Fairly important: 12.11%
- Important: 32.76%
- Very important: 2.8%
- Extremely important: 40.32%
n = 32, Incumbent 07/2016
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 1.01%
- Very little freedom: 17.8%
- Limited freedom: 10.03%
- Some freedom: 28.58%
- A lot of freedom: 42.58%
n = 31, Incumbent 07/2016
Time pressure
- Never: 10.02%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 12.98%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 37.86%
- Every day: 39.13%
n = 32, Incumbent 07/2016
Conflict situations
- Never: 21.32%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 43.81%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 3.76%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 18.67%
- Every day: 12.44%
n = 32, Incumbent 07/2016
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 20.68%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 14.82%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 32.95%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 24.7%
- Every day: 6.86%
n = 32, Incumbent 07/2016
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 17.97%
- Fairly serious: 24.52%
- Serious: 10.06%
- Very serious: 10.05%
- Extremely serious: 37.39%
n = 30, Incumbent 07/2016
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O*NET-SOC 51-4072.00 · SOC 51-4072 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8