Set up, operate, or tend machines to extrude or draw thermoplastic or metal materials into tubes, rods, hoses, wire, bars, or structural shapes.
U.S. Workers
65,700
Median Salary
$46,980
10-Year Growth
+1.2%
Annual Openings
6,500
Typical entry: High school diploma or equivalent
16 of 16 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Measure and examine extruded products to locate defects and to check for conformance to specifications, adjusting controls as necessary to alter products.
AI: Fully automatable - Automated vision and sensor systems combined with closed‑loop control enable AI to detect defects and adjust extrusion controls to maintain specifications in real production lines.
Determine setup procedures and select machine dies and parts, according to specifications.
AI: Fully automatable - Selecting dies and determining setup procedures is a planning task that AI can fully support or perform by matching specifications to parts and generating setup sequences, though humans may still execute physical setup.
Start machines and set controls to regulate vacuum, air pressure, sizing rings, and temperature, and to synchronize speed of extrusion.
AI: Fully automatable - Starting machines and setting process controls for vacuum, pressure, temperature, and speed are routinely automated via control systems and AI optimization algorithms.
Reel extruded products into rolls of specified lengths and weights.
AI: Fully automatable - Reeling extruded products to specified lengths and weights is a well‑established automation task that AI and PLCs can fully control and execute.
Weigh and mix pelletized, granular, or powdered thermoplastic materials and coloring pigments.
AI: Fully automatable - Weighing and batching of pellets and pigments is routinely handled by automated feeders, scales, and control systems in modern extrusion lines.
Test physical properties of products with testing devices such as acid-bath testers, burst testers, and impact testers.
AI: Fully automatable - Many physical-property tests (burst, impact, corrosion assays) and their data capture/analysis are already automated in industrial QA setups.
Maintain an inventory of materials.
AI: Fully automatable - Inventory tracking of materials can be fully automated today using sensors, RFID/barcode systems, and integrated inventory software.
Adjust controls to draw or press metal into specified shapes and diameters.
AI: Fully automatable - Control systems and closed-loop automation (CNC/servo systems) can adjust drawing/pressing parameters to hold specified shapes and diameters automatically.
Select nozzles, spacers, and wire guides, according to diameters and lengths of rods.
AI: Fully automatable - Selecting nozzles, spacers, and guides based on rod diameter/length is a rule-based decision easily automated by software and pick lists.
Operate shearing mechanisms to cut rods to specified lengths.
AI: Fully automatable - Automated CNC/shearing systems with length sensors and AI control can reliably cut rods to specified lengths without human intervention.
Install dies, machine screws, and sizing rings on machines that extrude thermoplastic or metal materials.
AI: Partial - Installing dies, screws, and sizing rings requires fine manual manipulation and context‑sensitive adjustments that remain only partially automatable without specialized robotic tooling and human oversight.
Change dies on extruding machines according to production line changes.
AI: Partial - Die changes require complex, variable physical manipulation and fixturing that can be automated in limited, engineered setups but generally still needs human intervention and customization as of 2025.
Clean work areas.
AI: Partial - General cleaning (floors, simple surfaces) is automatable with robots, but detailed machine- and line-specific cleaning still typically requires humans.
Load machine hoppers with mixed materials, using augers, or stuff rolls of plastic dough into machine cylinders.
AI: Partial - Automated augers and feeding systems exist, but loading rolls or irregular material into machine cylinders often remains a manual or semi-automated task.
Troubleshoot, maintain, and make minor repairs to equipment.
AI: Partial - AI systems can diagnose faults and guide maintenance or predict failures, but hands-on troubleshooting and minor repairs still usually require human technicians or specialized robotic cells.
Replace worn dies when products vary from specifications.
AI: Partial - Detecting die wear can be automated, but physically replacing dies is largely manual except in highly specialized robotic changeover installations.