Control or tend conveyors or conveyor systems that move materials or products to and from stockpiles, processing stations, departments, or vehicles. May control speed and routing of materials or products.

  • Inform supervisors of equipment malfunctions that need to be addressed.
  • Observe conveyor operations and monitor lights, dials, and gauges to maintain specified operating levels and to detect equipment malfunctions.
  • Record production data such as weights, types, quantities, and storage locations of materials, as well as equipment performance problems and downtime.
  • Load, unload, or adjust materials or products on conveyors by hand, by using lifts, hoists, and scoops, or by opening gates, chutes, or hoppers.
  • Stop equipment or machinery and clear jams, using poles, bars, and hand tools, or remove damaged materials from conveyors.
  • Distribute materials, supplies, and equipment to work stations, using lifts and trucks.
  • Observe packages moving along conveyors to identify packages, detect defective packaging, and perform quality control.
  • Collect samples of materials or products, checking them to ensure conformance to specifications or sending them to laboratories for analysis.
  • Position deflector bars, gates, chutes, or spouts to divert flow of materials from one conveyor onto another conveyor.
  • Repair or replace equipment components or parts such as blades, rolls, and pumps.
  • Manipulate controls, levers, and valves to start pumps, auxiliary equipment, or conveyors, and to adjust equipment positions, speeds, timing, and material flows.
  • Weigh or measure materials and products, using scales or other measuring instruments, or read scales on conveyors that continually weigh products, to verify specified tonnages and prevent overloads.
  • Read production and delivery schedules, and confer with supervisors, to determine sorting and transfer procedures, arrangement of packages on pallets, and destinations of loaded pallets.
  • Operate consoles to control automatic palletizing equipment.
  • Press console buttons to deflect packages to predetermined accumulators or reject lines.
  • Clean, sterilize, and maintain equipment, machinery, and work stations, using hand tools, shovels, brooms, chemicals, hoses, and lubricants.
  • Affix identifying information to materials or products, using hand tools.
  • Move, assemble, and connect hoses or nozzles to material hoppers, storage tanks, conveyor sections or chutes, and pumps.
  • Thread strapping through strapping tools and secure battens with strapping to form protective pallets around extrusions.
  • Contact workers in work stations or other departments to request movement of materials, products, or machinery, or to notify them of incoming shipments and their estimated delivery times.
  • Measure dimensions of bundles, using rulers, and cut battens to required sizes, using power saws.
  • Operate elevator systems in conjunction with conveyor systems.
  • Join sections of conveyor frames at temporary working areas, and connect power units.
Work Context

Work Context information for this career will be available soon.

Work Activities
  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
  • Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Material — Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
  • Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
  • Controlling Machines and Processes — Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
  • Handling and Moving Objects — Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
  • Performing General Physical Activities — Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling of materials.
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Detailed Work Activities
  • Position material handling equipment.
  • Measure product or material dimensions.
  • Weigh materials to ensure compliance with specifications.
  • Control pumps or pumping equipment.
  • Operate conveyors or other industrial material moving equipment.
  • Record operational or production data.
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Knowledge

English Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Public Safety and Security
  • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

Skills

Operation Monitoring
  • Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Operation and Control
  • Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Monitoring
  • Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Active Listening
  • Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
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Abilities

Oral Comprehension
  • The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Control Precision
  • The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Problem Sensitivity
  • The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Deductive Reasoning
  • The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
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Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Achievement/Effort
  • Persistence
  • Initiative
  • Leadership
  • Cooperation
  • Concern for Others
  • Social Orientation
  • Self Control
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Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Data base user interface and query software
  • Data entry software Hot Technology
Operating system software
  • Microsoft Windows Hot Technology
Industrial control software
  • Control system software
  • Conveyor control software
  • Sortation software
Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
  • Intelligrated InControlWare