Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Set up, operate, or tend machines to roll steel or plastic forming bends, beads, knurls, rolls, or plate, or to flatten, temper, or reduce gauge of material.
Most important skills
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Quality Control Analysis
- Monitoring
- Speaking
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Reading Comprehension
Key knowledge
- Mechanical
- Production and Processing
- English Language
- Education and Training
- Administration and Management
- Customer and Personal Service
- Engineering and Technology
- Mathematics
What the work involves
- Adjust and correct machine set-ups to reduce thicknesses, reshape products, and eliminate product defects.
- Monitor machine cycles and mill operation to detect jamming and to ensure that products conform to specifications.
- Examine, inspect, and measure raw materials and finished products to verify conformance to specifications.
- Read rolling orders, blueprints, and mill schedules to determine setup specifications, work sequences, product dimensions, and installation procedures.
- Manipulate controls and observe dial indicators to monitor, adjust, and regulate speeds of machine mechanisms.
- Start operation of rolling and milling machines to flatten, temper, form, and reduce sheet metal sections and to produce steel strips.
- Set distance points between rolls, guides, meters, and stops, according to specifications.
- Position, align, and secure arbors, spindles, coils, mandrels, dies, and slitting knives.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (74.2% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (30.4%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (39.8%)
- 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 Rolling 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 | Moderate | Lower on contact with others than 52% of occupations compared | 63% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Lower on dealing with the public than 59% of occupations compared | 32% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 88% of occupations compared | 73% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 86% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 85% of occupations compared | 72% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 87% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 87% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Consequence of error | High | Higher on consequence of error than 62% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very low
- 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: 1.49%
- Occasional contact with others: 8.41%
- Contact with others about half the time: 4.48%
- Contact with others most of the time: 22.85%
- Constant contact with others: 62.76%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 15.99%
- Fairly important: 8.16%
- Important: 30.57%
- Very important: 32.05%
- Extremely important: 13.24%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2018
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0.63%
- Important: 1.98%
- Very important: 24.44%
- Extremely important: 72.94%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2018
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 24.35%
- Very little freedom: 3.81%
- Limited freedom: 0.63%
- Some freedom: 34.61%
- A lot of freedom: 36.61%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2018
Time pressure
- Never: 11.33%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 2.9%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 13.33%
- Every day: 72.44%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2018
Conflict situations
- Never: 23.44%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 45.26%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 15.53%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 15.14%
- Every day: 0.63%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 49.56%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 18.43%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 8.45%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 13.61%
- Every day: 9.95%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2018
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 10.68%
- Fairly serious: 14.92%
- Serious: 38.53%
- Very serious: 11.06%
- Extremely serious: 24.81%
n = 28, Incumbent 08/2018
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O*NET-SOC 51-4023.00 · SOC 51-4023 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8