Profession metal furniture machine operator

Metal furniture machine operators use machines and power tools to cut, shape and join metal pieces in order to produce metal furniture ranging from office furnishings to outdoors fittings. They use different types of metal such as aluminium, iron and stainless steel, and different types of processes such as metal forming and casting. They polish, apply protective layers and, in some cases, decorative finishes to the metal pieces. They assemble and join the elements to obtain the final product.

Personality Type

• Realistic / Conventional

Knowledge

• Quality standards

  The national and international requirements, specifications and guidelines to ensure that products, services and processes are of good quality and fit for purpose.

• Metalworking

  The process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large-scale structures.

• Types of metal

  Qualities, specifications, applications and reactions to different fabricating processes of various types of metal, such as steel, aluminium, brass, copper and others.

• Metal smoothing technologies

  The various technologies used for the smoothening, polishing and buffing of fabricated metal workpieces.

Skills

• Heat metals

  Heat steel and metals in fire; adjust and regulate heat controls to reach appropriate pouring temperature.

• Supply machine with appropriate tools

  Supply the machine with the necessary tools and items for a particular production purpose.

• Remove inadequate workpieces

  Evaluate which deficient processed workpieces do not meet the set-up standard and should be removed and sort the waste according to regulations.

• Use welding equipment

  Operate welding equipment in a safe manner; use welding techniques such as shielded metal arc welding or flux-cored arc welding.

• Remove processed workpiece

  Remove individual workpieces after processing, from the manufacturing machine or the machine tool. In case of a conveyor belt this involves quick, continuous movement.

• Join metals

  Join together pieces of metal using soldering and welding materials.

• Operate furniture machinery

  Operate machines and equipment used for making furniture parts and the assembling of furniture.

• Monitor automated machines

  Continuously check up on the automated machine's set-up and execution or make regular control rounds. If necessary, record and interpret data on the operating conditions of installations and equipment in order to identify abnormalities.

• Assemble metal parts

  Align and arrange steel and metal parts in order to assemble complete products; use the appropriate hand tools and gauges.

• Supply machine

  Ensure the machine is fed the necessary and adequate materials and control the placement or automatic feed and retrieval of work pieces in the machines or machine tools on the production line.

• Fabricate metal parts

  Fabricate metal parts, using equipment such as drill presses and engine lathes.

• Cut metal products

  Operate cutting and measuring instruments in order to cut/shape pieces of metal into given dimensions.

• Set up the controller of a machine

  Set up and give commands to a machine by dispatching the appropriate data and input into the (computer) controller corresponding with the desired processed product.

• Apply a protective layer

  Apply a layer of protective solutions such as permethrine to protect the product from damage such as corrosion, fire or parasites, using a spray gun or paintbrush.

• Maintain furniture machinery

  Maintain machinery and equipment in order to ensure that it is clean and in safe, working order. Perform routine maintenance on equipment and adjust when necessary, using hand and power tools.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB