Expand mobile version menu

Paper Goods Machine Worker

job outlook graphic

JOB OUTLOOK

Decreasing

What They Do

Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders Career Video

About This Career

Sets up, operates, or tends paper goods machines that perform a variety of functions, such as converting, sawing, corrugating, banding, wrapping, boxing, stitching, forming, or sealing paper or paperboard sheets into products.

This career is part of the Manufacturing cluster Production pathway.

A person in this career:

  • Examines completed work to detect defects and verify conformance to work orders, and adjusts machinery as necessary to correct production problems.
  • Observes operation of various machines to detect and correct machine malfunctions such as improper forming, glue flow, or pasteboard tension.
  • Starts machines and moves controls to regulate tension on pressure rolls, to synchronize speed of machine components, and to adjust temperatures of glue or paraffin.
  • Disassembles machines to maintain, repair, or replace broken or worn parts, using hand or power tools.
  • Installs attachments to machines for gluing, folding, printing, or cutting.
  • Cuts products to specified dimensions, using hand or power cutters.
  • Places rolls of paper or cardboard on machine feed tracks, and threads paper through gluing, coating, and slitting rollers.
  • Monitors finished cartons as they drop from forming machines into rotating hoppers and into gravity feed chutes to prevent jamming.
  • Adjusts guide assemblies, forming bars, and folding mechanisms according to specifications, using hand tools.
  • Fills glue and paraffin reservoirs, and positions rollers to dispense glue onto paperboard.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

  • You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
  • Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
  • Exposure to pollutants, gases, dust, fumes, odors, poor ventilation, etc.
  • Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
  • Exposed to hazardous equipment such as saws, machinery, or vehicular traffic more than once a month
  • Sound and noise levels are loud and distracting
  • Work in this occupation involves making repetitive motions more than one-third of the time
  • Work in this occupation involves standing more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

  • Seeing clearly up close

Work Hours and Travel

  • Rotating shift work

Specialty and Similar Careers

Careers that are more detailed or close to this career:

  • Corrugator Operator
  • Folder Machine Operator
  • Paper Cutter Operator
  • Paper Machine Backtender
  • Paper Machine Operator
  • Stitching Machine Operator
  • Cup Room Technician
  • Gluer Operator