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Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Set up, operate, or tend machines to mix or blend materials, such as chemicals, tobacco, liquids, color pigments, or explosive ingredients.
Also Known As:
Batchmaker
Blender
Blending Technician (Blending Tech)
Ink Blender
Issuing Operator
Machine Operator
Mixer
Mixer Operator
Operator
Stock Preparation Operator (Stock Prep Operator)
Wages
Annual wages for Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in United States
Job Outlook
Average
New job opportunities are likely in the future
United States
2033 Projected Employment
112,400
4% Change From 2023
Explore Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Operate or tend machines to mix or blend any of a wide variety of materials, such as spices, dough batter, tobacco, fruit juices, chemicals, livestock feed, food products, color pigments, or explosive ingredients.
- Clean work areas.
- Dislodge and clear jammed materials or other items from machinery or equipment, using hand tools.
- Observe production or monitor equipment to ensure safe and efficient operation.
- Clean and maintain equipment, using hand tools.
- Weigh or measure materials, ingredients, or products to ensure conformance to requirements.
- Weigh or measure materials, ingredients, or products to ensure conformance to requirements.
- Weigh or measure materials, ingredients, or products to ensure conformance to requirements.
- Add or mix chemicals or ingredients for processing, using hand tools or other devices.
- Open valves to drain slurry from mixers into storage tanks.
- Examine materials, ingredients, or products visually or with hands to ensure conformance to established standards.
- Dump or pour specified amounts of materials into machinery or equipment.
- Unload mixtures into containers or onto conveyors for further processing.
- Stop mixing or blending machines when specified product qualities are obtained and open valves and start pumps to transfer mixtures.
- Mix or blend ingredients by starting machines and mixing for specified times.
- Operate or tend machines to mix or blend any of a wide variety of materials, such as spices, dough batter, tobacco, fruit juices, chemicals, livestock feed, food products, color pigments, or explosive ingredients.
- Clean work areas.
- Compound or process ingredients or dyes, according to formulas.
- Record operational or production data on specified forms.
- Transfer materials, supplies, or products between work areas, using moving equipment or hand tools.
- Tend accessory equipment, such as pumps or conveyors, to move materials or ingredients through production processes.
- Test samples of materials or products to ensure compliance with specifications, using test equipment.
- Collect samples of materials or products for laboratory testing.
- Clean and maintain equipment, using hand tools.
- Read work orders to determine production specifications or information.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")