Occupation

Conveyor Operators and Tenders

Human Advantage 64%

Significant human skills needed

AI Automation Risk Moderate Risk
3.8 / 10

Some tasks in this role may be augmented by AI, but human oversight and interpersonal skills remain important.

Control or tend conveyors or conveyor systems that move materials or products to and from stockpiles, processing stations, departments, or vehicles. May control speed and routing of materials or products.

Also Known As: Aerial Tram Operator, Ash Conveyor Operator, Assembly Line Tender, Bed Operator, Belt Operator, Belt Technician (Belt Tech), Belt Tender, Beltman +54 more

Video

Core Tasks

  1. Inform supervisors of equipment malfunctions that need to be addressed.
  2. Observe conveyor operations and monitor lights, dials, and gauges to maintain specified operating levels and to detect equipment malfunctions.
  3. Record production data such as weights, types, quantities, and storage locations of materials, as well as equipment performance problems and downtime.
  4. Load, unload, or adjust materials or products on conveyors by hand, by using lifts, hoists, and scoops, or by opening gates, chutes, or hoppers.
  5. Stop equipment or machinery and clear jams, using poles, bars, and hand tools, or remove damaged materials from conveyors.
  6. Distribute materials, supplies, and equipment to work stations, using lifts and trucks.

Supplemental Tasks (14)

  1. Observe packages moving along conveyors to identify packages, detect defective packaging, and perform quality control.
  2. Collect samples of materials or products, checking them to ensure conformance to specifications or sending them to laboratories for analysis.
  3. Position deflector bars, gates, chutes, or spouts to divert flow of materials from one conveyor onto another conveyor.
  4. Repair or replace equipment components or parts such as blades, rolls, and pumps.
  5. Manipulate controls, levers, and valves to start pumps, auxiliary equipment, or conveyors, and to adjust equipment positions, speeds, timing, and material flows.
  6. Weigh or measure materials and products, using scales or other measuring instruments, or read scales on conveyors that continually weigh products, to verify specified tonnages and prevent overloads.
  7. Read production and delivery schedules, and confer with supervisors, to determine sorting and transfer procedures, arrangement of packages on pallets, and destinations of loaded pallets.
  8. Press console buttons to deflect packages to predetermined accumulators or reject lines.
  9. Clean, sterilize, and maintain equipment, machinery, and work stations, using hand tools, shovels, brooms, chemicals, hoses, and lubricants.
  10. Affix identifying information to materials or products, using hand tools.
  11. Move, assemble, and connect hoses or nozzles to material hoppers, storage tanks, conveyor sections or chutes, and pumps.
  12. Thread strapping through strapping tools and secure battens with strapping to form protective pallets around extrusions.
  13. Contact workers in work stations or other departments to request movement of materials, products, or machinery, or to notify them of incoming shipments and their estimated delivery times.
  14. Join sections of conveyor frames at temporary working areas, and connect power units.

Education & Training

Job Zone 1 Job Zone One: Little or No Preparation Needed
Education: Some of these occupations may require a high school diploma or GED certificate.
Experience: Little or no previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, a person can become a waiter or waitress even if he/she has never worked before.
On-the-Job Training: Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few days to a few months of training. Usually, an experienced worker could show you how to do the job.

Education Level Distribution

Percentage of workers in this occupation with each education level.

Less than a High School Diploma
70%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)
24%
Some College Courses
5%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)
1%

Technology & Tools

Hot Technologies

  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Windows
  • SAP software

Software (7)

  • Control system software
  • Conveyor control software
  • Intelligrated InControlWare
  • Sortation software

Tools & Equipment (36)

  • Automatic palletizing equipment
  • Automobiles
  • Belt conveyors systems
  • Boom conveyors
  • Chain conveyor systems
  • Desktop computers
  • Digital floor scales
  • Digital video cameras
  • Electric hoists
  • Elevator systems
  • Gate pumps
  • Grain conveyors
  • Grease dispensing guns
  • Handheld scanners
  • Hearing protection plugs
  • Hoppers
  • Hydraulic booms
  • Hydraulic lifts
  • Laser facsimile machines
  • Light industrial vans
  • Mobile radios
  • Oil dispensing cans
  • Pallet jacks
  • Pickup trucks
  • Portable power saws
  • Precision rulers
  • Protective safety glasses
  • Safety gloves
  • Scoops
  • Screw conveyors
  • Spot welders
  • Strapping tools
  • Sump pumps
  • Vibrating conveyors
  • Watering hoses
  • Wheeled forklifts

Where This Career Leads

Career progression organized by specialty track and experience level.

Industrial Machinery Advanced Manufacturing

Zone 1
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