Career profile Rolling Mill Operator

Table of Contents

• What does a Rolling Mill Operator do?
• What is a typical salary for a Rolling Mill Operator?
• What personality traits are common among Rolling Mill Operators?
  • Career Interests
  • Values
  • Psychological Demands
• What education and training do Rolling Mill Operators need?
  • Typical educational degrees
  • Required knowledge and expertise
  • Important abilities
  • Critical skills

What does a Rolling Mill Operator do?

Rolling Mill Operators 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.

What kind of tasks does a Rolling Mill Operator perform regularly?

Rolling Mill Operators are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

• 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.
• Start operation of rolling and milling machines to flatten, temper, form, and reduce sheet metal sections and to produce steel strips.
• 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.
• Set distance points between rolls, guides, meters, and stops, according to specifications.
• Calculate draft space and roll speed for each mill stand to plan rolling sequences and specified dimensions and tempers.
• Install equipment such as guides, guards, gears, cooling equipment, and rolls, using hand tools.
• Position, align, and secure arbors, spindles, coils, mandrels, dies, and slitting knives.
• Fill oil cups, adjust valves, and observe gauges to control flow of metal coolants and lubricants onto workpieces.
• Activate shears and grinders to trim workpieces.
• Signal and assist other workers to remove and position equipment, fill hoppers, and feed materials into machines.
• Record mill production on schedule sheets.
• Direct and train other workers to change rolls, operate mill equipment, remove coils and cobbles, and band and load material.

The above responsibilities are specific to Rolling Mill Operators. More generally, Rolling Mill Operators are involved in several broader types of activities:

What is a Rolling Mill Operator salary?

What personality traits are common among Rolling Mill Operators?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Rolling Mill Operator are usually higher in their Realistic and Conventional interests.

Rolling Mill Operators typically have very strong Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Also, Rolling Mill Operators typically have moderate Conventional interests. Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Rolling Mill Operator tend to value Support, Relationships, and Working Conditions.

Most importantly, Rolling Mill Operators strongly value Support. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

Second, Rolling Mill Operators moderately value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Lastly, Rolling Mill Operators somewhat value Working Conditions. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Rolling Mill Operators must consistently demonstrate qualities such as dependability, attention to detail, and integrity.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Rolling Mill Operators, ranked by importance:

What education and training do Rolling Mill Operators need?

Working as a Rolling Mill Operator usually requires a high school diploma.

Rolling Mill Operators need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Rolling Mill Operators

• 12.9% did not complete high school or secondary school
• 50.3% completed high school or secondary school
• 23.8% completed some college coursework
• 7.4% earned a Associate's degree
• 3.9% earned a Bachelor's degree
• 1.7% earned a Master's degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Rolling Mill Operators

Important Abilities needed by Rolling Mill Operators

Rolling Mill Operators must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Rolling Mill Operators need abilities such as problem sensitivity, control precision, and reaction time in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Rolling Mill Operators, ranked by their relative importance.

Critical Skills needed by Rolling Mill Operators

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Rolling Mill Operators frequently use skills like operations monitoring, operation and control, and quality control analysis to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Rolling Mill Operators, ranked by their relative importance.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

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