Occupation

Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers

Human Advantage 70%

Significant human skills needed

AI Automation Risk Moderate Risk
3.6 / 10

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

Inspect, test, sort, sample, or weigh nonagricultural raw materials or processed, machined, fabricated, or assembled parts or products for defects, wear, and deviations from specifications. May use precision measuring instruments and complex test equipment.

Also Known As: Abrasive Grader, Acid Tester, Air Box Tester, Air Conditioning Unit Tester (AC Unit Tester), Air Sampler, Air Value Tester, Aircraft Instrument Tester, Aircraft Launching and Arresting Systems Inspector +932 more

Video

Core Tasks

  1. Discard or reject products, materials, or equipment not meeting specifications.
  2. Mark items with details, such as grade or acceptance-rejection status.
  3. Measure dimensions of products to verify conformance to specifications, using measuring instruments, such as rulers, calipers, gauges, or micrometers.
  4. Notify supervisors or other personnel of production problems.
  5. Inspect, test, or measure materials, products, installations, or work for conformance to specifications.
  6. Write test or inspection reports describing results, recommendations, or needed repairs.
  7. Recommend necessary corrective actions, based on inspection results.
  8. Read dials or meters to verify that equipment is functioning at specified levels.
  9. Make minor adjustments to equipment, such as turning setscrews to calibrate instruments to required tolerances.
  10. Read blueprints, data, manuals, or other materials to determine specifications, inspection and testing procedures, adjustment methods, certification processes, formulas, or measuring instruments required.
  11. Monitor production operations or equipment to ensure conformance to specifications, making necessary process or assembly adjustments.
  12. Record inspection or test data, such as weights, temperatures, grades, or moisture content, and quantities inspected or graded.
  13. Position products, components, or parts for testing.
  14. Remove defects, such as chips, burrs, or lap corroded or pitted surfaces.
  15. Collect or select samples for testing or for use as models.
  16. Stack or arrange tested products for further processing, shipping, or packaging.

Supplemental Tasks (15)

  1. Check arriving materials to ensure that they match purchase orders, submitting discrepancy reports as necessary.
  2. Inspect or test raw materials, parts, or products to determine compliance with environmental standards.
  3. Analyze test data, making computations as necessary, to determine test results.
  4. Compare colors, shapes, textures, or grades of products or materials with color charts, templates, or samples to verify conformance to standards.
  5. Clean, maintain, calibrate, or repair measuring instruments or test equipment, such as dial indicators, fixed gauges, or height gauges.
  6. Fabricate, install, position, or connect components, parts, finished products, or instruments for testing or operational purposes.
  7. Administer tests to assess whether engineers or operators are qualified to use equipment.
  8. Monitor machines that automatically measure, sort, or inspect products.
  9. Interpret legal requirements, provide safety information, or recommend compliance procedures to contractors, craft workers, engineers, or property owners.
  10. Adjust, clean, or repair products or processing equipment to correct defects found during inspections.
  11. Compute usable amounts of items in shipments.
  12. Grade, classify, or sort products according to sizes, weights, colors, or other specifications.
  13. Disassemble defective parts or components, such as inaccurate or worn gauges or measuring instruments.
  14. Compute defect percentages or averages, using formulas and calculators.
  15. Weigh materials, products, containers, or samples to verify packaging weights or ingredient quantities.

Education & Training

Job Zone 2 Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed
Education: These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
Experience: Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
On-the-Job Training: Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Education Level Distribution

Percentage of workers in this occupation with each education level.

High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)
70%
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)
27%
Some College Courses
3%
Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree)
1%

Technology & Tools

Hot Technologies

  • Apache Hive
  • Atlassian JIRA
  • Autodesk AutoCAD
  • Dassault Systemes SolidWorks
  • Extensible markup language XML
  • Microsoft Access
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft SharePoint
  • Microsoft Visio
  • Microsoft Word
  • R
  • SAP software
  • Selenium
  • Structured query language SQL
  • The MathWorks MATLAB

Software (42)

  • Apache Pig
  • Computer assisted design software
  • Computer-aided inspection software
  • Coordinate measuring machine software
  • Cybermetrics GAGETrak
  • Dassault Systemes CATIA
  • Data analysis software
  • Data entry software
  • Database software
  • Design of experiments DOE software
  • FileMaker Pro
  • IBM Lotus Notes
  • IBM Notes
  • Inspection marking systems
  • Label inspection systems
  • Mastercam Design
  • Mastercam computer-aided design and manufacturing software
  • Medical condition coding software
  • Minitab
  • Skype
  • Statistical process control SPC data collection devices
  • Tolerance analysis software
  • Verisurf Metrology
  • Wilcox Associates PC-DMIS Inspection Planner

Tools & Equipment (88)

  • Accelerometers
  • Ammeters
  • Backplane testers
  • Beta gauges
  • Bit error rate testers BERT
  • Bubble leak testers
  • Calipers
  • Calorimetric leak testers
  • Capacitive acceleration instruments
  • Color spectrometers
  • Compression testers
  • Conductivity meters
  • Continuity testers
  • Coordinate measuring machines CMM
  • Creep and stress relaxation testers
  • Depth gauges
  • Digital multimeters
  • Digital resistance meters
  • Digital resistance thermometers
  • Digital voltmeters DVM
  • Direct current DC power testers
  • Ductility testers
  • Eddy current flaw detectors
  • Eddy current probes
  • Environmental chambers
  • Fatigue testers
  • Force transducers
  • Forklifts
  • Frequency counters
  • Frequency meters
  • Function generators
  • Gloss meters
  • Hardness testers
  • Height gauges
  • Hipot testers
  • Holographic interferometers
  • Hydraulic lifts
  • Hydraulic pumps
  • Impact hammers
  • Impact toughness testers
  • In-circuit testers
  • Industrial bench scales
  • Laser shearography flaw detectors
  • Laser thickness gauges
  • Linear or mixed signal equipment
  • Logic test systems
  • Magnetic induction acceleration instruments
  • Magnetic particle flaw detectors
  • Manufacturing defect analyzers MDA
  • Mass flow leak testers
  • Measuring microscopes
  • Metallurgical microscopes
  • Micrometers
  • Moisture meters
  • Multimeters
  • Null-balance acceleration instruments
  • Optical comparators
  • Optical gauges
  • Overhead cranes
  • Penetrant flaw detectors
  • Personal computers
  • Pi tapes
  • Piezoelectric acceleration instruments
  • Pin gauges
  • Plotters
  • Plug gauges
  • Power meters
  • Printed circuit board PCB testers
  • Pulse generators
  • Radiographic flaw detectors
  • Resistance meters
  • Resistivity meters
  • Resonance acceleration instruments
  • Return loss calibrator RLC passive component testers
  • Sampling oscilloscopes
  • Shear testers
  • Shock testers
  • Signal generators
  • Sorting machines
  • Strain gauges
  • Tensile testers
  • Thread gauges
  • Utrasonic flaw detectors
  • Verisurf 3Dgage
  • Verisurf CMM Master
  • Verisurf Master3DGage
  • Vibration and shaker systems
  • Viscometers

Where This Career Leads

Career progression organized by specialty track and experience level.

Safety & Quality Assurance Advanced Manufacturing

Zone 2
Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers You are here
Zone 3

Production & Automation Advanced Manufacturing

Zone 1
Zone 2
Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers You are here
Zone 5

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