Profession punch press operator

Punch press operators set up and tend punch presses designed to cut workpieces into their desired shape by propelling a hydraulic ram to punch holes into them with a single die set that pushes through the top dead centre, through the surface, and to the bottom dead centre of the workpiece.

Personality Type

• Realistic / Conventional
• Realistic / Investigative

Knowledge

• Manufacturing processes

  The steps required through which a material is transformed into a product, its development and full-scale manufacturing.

• 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.

• Statistical process control

  Method of quality control that uses statistics to monitor processes.

Skills

• Troubleshoot

  Identify operating problems, decide what to do about it and report accordingly.

• 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.

• 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.

• Program a CNC controller

  Set up the desired product design in the CNC controller of the CNC machine for product manufacturing.

• Supply machine with appropriate tools

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

• Dispose of cutting waste material

  Dispose of possibly hazardous waste material created in the cutting process, such as swarf, scrap and slugs, sort according to regulations, and clean up workplace.

• Operate precision measuring equipment

  Measure the size of a processed part when checking and marking it to check if it is up to standard by use of two and three dimensional precision measuring equipment such as a caliper, a micrometer, and a measuring gauge.

• Read standard blueprints

  Read and comprehend standard blueprints, machine, and process drawings.

• Use automatic programming

  Utilise specialised software tools to generate computer code from specifications, such as diagrams, structured informations or other means of describing functionality.

• Perform machine maintenance

  Perform regular maintenance, possibly including corrections and alterations, on a machine or machine tool to ensure it remains in a proper productive state.

• 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.

• 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.

• Use CAM software

  Use computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) programmes to control machinery and machine tools in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimisation as part of the manufacturing processes of workpieces.

• Tend punch press

  Tend a punch press, monitor and operate it, according to regulations.

• Ensure equipment availability

  Ensure that the necessary equipment is provided, ready and available for use before start of procedures.

• 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.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB