Explore by Career/Production

Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders

Operate or tend bonding machines that use adhesives to join items for further processing or to form a completed product. Processes include joining veneer sheets into plywood; gluing paper; or joining rubber and rubberized fabric parts, plastic, simulated leather, or other materials.

Median pay: $45,210; per year
10-year outlook: +1%; Stable
Typical entry: High school diploma or equivalent

Key skills

Operation and Control
Operations Monitoring
Active Listening
Speaking
Monitoring
Quality Control Analysis
Reading Comprehension
Coordination

What they do

Align and position materials being joined to ensure accurate application of adhesive or heat sealing.
Adjust machine components according to specifications such as widths, lengths, and thickness of materials and amounts of glue, cement, or adhesive required.
Monitor machine operations to detect malfunctions and report or resolve problems.
Start machines, and turn valves or move controls to feed, admit, apply, or transfer materials and adhesives, and to adjust temperature, pressure, and time settings.
Fill machines with glue, cement, or adhesives.
Perform test production runs and make adjustments as necessary to ensure that completed products meet standards and specifications.
Examine and measure completed materials or products to verify conformance to specifications, using measuring devices such as tape measures, gauges, or calipers.
Read work orders and communicate with coworkers to determine machine and equipment settings and adjustments and supply and product specifications.
Remove and stack completed materials or products, and restock materials to be joined.
Observe gauges, meters, and control panels to obtain information about equipment temperatures and pressures, or the speed of feeders or conveyors.

Majors that lead here

No mapped majors yet.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, Employment Projections) and O*NET, used under CC BY 4.0.