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WBTO
WBTO Skills ProfilesManufacturing, one job at a time
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WBTO, LLC · Instructor form
Plastics and rubber, Primary metal (foundries, mills) and 6 more · NAICS 326, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 339

Machine Operator, Die Cast and Plastics

Entry-Level Molding, Coremaking and Casting Machine Operator Skills · about ten minutes. One form per program you teach. Nothing here is used to evaluate you or your program; it is used to argue for what a program needs.

Draft, pending employer validationThis skill list is a draft until five employers have rated it. Your answers tell us what programs deliver today.

Your program

The skills

We are comparing what employers need against what programs deliver. Three ratings per skill. Please answer for a typical completer, not your strongest student.
A — If a student completes your program, what level would they be at? The level a typical completer actually reaches on their first day in this job, not what the course covers.
B — What is the instructor’s own level? A program cannot teach past its instructor, so a low B is a professional development need.
C — Do you have what you need to teach it? 0 = none · 1 = some, not enough · 2 = enough for the class · ? = not sure. Under each skill we list what it takes to teach it; where you mark 0 or 1, tick what you do not have. A question mark is a fine answer.
These three together say why a gap exists, not just that it does.
0 — None. Not part of this job
1 — Awareness. Has seen it or heard of it; would be trained from scratch
2 — Competent. Can do it with help or normal supervision
3 — Proficient. Can do it on their own, to standard
One tap per row. If you do not know, leave the row untouched — blank and 0 mean different things and we treat them differently. Tapped the wrong one? The × clears it.
Works safely around the hot surfaces, molten or heated material and high-force machinery on the job: wears the PPE the task requires, keeps guards, gates and interlocks in place, recognizes the burn, pinch and crush hazards before running, reports unsafe conditions, and knows the response for a spill, a fire or an injury.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Applies lockout and tagout to isolate electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic and stored energy before a mold change, a purge, a jam clear or any reach into the machine, and verifies zero energy before starting work.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Reads the job packet before the run starts, meaning the part print, the work order, the setup sheet and the process parameter card, and confirms the material, cavity count, cycle target and packaging the job calls for.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Uses whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percentages and simple formulas to work out the job's charge, shot or batch quantities, mix proportions, yield and scrap rates, piece counts and conversions between inch and metric.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Measures parts and castings with scales, calipers, micrometers, depth gauges and go/no-go gauges, records the reading with its unit, and confirms it against the specification on the print.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Identifies the material families the plant runs, knows the working temperature and the drying, conditioning or shelf-life requirement for each, and checks the lot number and certificate against the work order before the material goes into the process.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Moves and stages the job's material, tooling and finished parts safely using the right handling aid for the weight, from hand carrying and carts up to pallet jacks and overhead hoists, and keeps the staging area clear and labeled for the next job.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Brings the equipment up to running condition and takes it back down in the right order: temperatures at soak, water, air and hydraulics checked, the first output run and set aside, and at end of run the material cleared out, the tooling emptied and the machine left safe and clean.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Runs an injection molding machine, or a blow or rotational molding machine on the same principle, in automatic or semi-automatic cycle to a setup somebody else established: loads inserts, clears the gate, tends parts off the conveyor or robot, and keeps the press cycling to the target.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Reads the machine controller and checks the running process against the setup sheet, covering the job's temperatures, the injection or shot pressures and speeds, shot size and the hold and cool times, then reports drift and makes only the small adjustments the job authorizes.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Assists with pulling the previous mold or die and installing the next one: rigging it in, clamping to specification, hooking up water and hydraulic lines, wiring the temperature controller, and verifying the mold is safe and square before the first shot.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Purges the barrel and hot runner between materials or colors using the specified purging compound, runs the purge until clean, and confirms the first good parts are free of streaking or contamination before the run counts.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Runs a hot-chamber or cold-chamber die casting machine to an established setup: ladles or verifies the metered shot, applies die lubricant, cycles the die, and extracts the casting and biscuit without disturbing the die.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Prepares the mold for the job's process: builds or assembles the mold from the pattern, form or tooling, sets any cores or inserts, applies the release agent or mold coating the job calls for, and closes, vents and conditions it so it is ready to receive material.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Understands what happens at the melting and pouring station well enough to work safely near it and assist: recognizes the moisture, cold-tool and splash hazards around molten material, keeps the transfer and pour path clear, and skims, degasses or moves molten material only under direct supervision.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Gets the finished part out of the mold or die and cleans it up: separates it from the sprue, runner, gate or surrounding mold material, trims flash to the line, and deburrs or grinds as needed without damaging or contaminating the part, so it is ready for the next operation.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Sets up and tends the support equipment that feeds and services the main machine, meaning the material conditioning, mixing, cooling, temperature control, conveying and part handling units, keeps each at the setting the job calls for, and reports when one drifts or alarms.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Makes rounds of the assigned machines on a set interval, watches cycle time, alarms and part flow, answers call lights in order of priority, and gets help when the machine drifts off target.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Pulls parts at the required frequency, checks them visually, dimensionally and by functional fit against the boundary sample and the print, and labels the box or tote as passing or held before it moves.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Names what went wrong on a bad part, such as short shot, flash, sink, warp, splay, burn or weld line on plastic, or porosity, cold shut, misrun, shrink or inclusion on a casting, and tells the setter what the machine is doing.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Separates, weighs and records scrap by cause, keeps reclaimed material clean, segregated and correctly identified to its lot or alloy, and returns it to the process only at the ratio the job allows so contaminated or over-ratio material never gets run.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Checks hydraulic oil level and temperature, air pressure and water flow before and during a run, reads a basic schematic well enough to find the component named on it, and reports leaks, low pressure or a tripped device rather than repairing it.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Performs operator-level preventive maintenance on schedule, such as lubricating the listed points, cleaning and protecting the tooling and machine surfaces, and clearing or changing filters and screens, and leaves the cell clean, tools stored and waste disposed of correctly at end of shift.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Fills in the run paperwork accurately and on time, covering cycle and shift counts, downtime and cause codes, scrap by reason and quality check results, enters it into the plant system, and plots readings on the SPC chart where the job requires it.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Hands the job over cleanly at shift change and in end-of-run meetings by saying what ran, what broke, what was adjusted and what the next crew should watch, and works alongside setters, toolroom, quality and material handlers across a mixed crew.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Runs a heated-platen compression or transfer press to a setup someone else established: loads the weighed charge or preform, closes the press, runs the cure timer, and unloads and deflashes the part.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Tends a vacuum or pressure thermoforming machine to the setup sheet: loads sheet or roll stock, watches the heater-zone readouts, lets the forming and trim-in-place cycle run, and unloads and stacks parts for someone else's dimensional check.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Works the melt deck to a charge sheet someone else wrote: weighs and adds sorted scrap, ingot and alloy additions to the furnace and holds the bath at the set temperature until the lab verifies chemistry.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Runs the lost-wax front end of a casting job: injects and assembles wax patterns, builds the mold by dipping and stuccoing a ceramic shell to the gauged coat count or by investing a flask, and runs dewax and burnout to the published ramp.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Mixes a two-part potting or encapsulating resin to the specified ratio inside its pot life, dispenses or pours it around the assembly to the fill line without trapping air, and runs the oven cure to the posted schedule.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Builds an open-mold laminate to a ply schedule someone else wrote: cuts and places the reinforcement, wets it out and rolls out the air, and bags the part and runs the vacuum or infusion step before the resin's working time runs out.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.
Works at the press inside a controlled environment to the posted protocol: gowns in the correct sequence, brings material in only through the pass-through with a wipe-down, keeps cardboard, wood and other excluded materials outside the line, and never blocks or defeats the airflow.
A — Completer levelwhat a typical completer reaches on day one
B — Instructor levelyour own level on this skill
C — What you need to teach it0 none · 1 some · 2 enough · ? not sure
To teach this you would need:If you marked 0 or 1 on C, tick what you do not have, or have but not enough of.

Employability skills

Oregon publishes ten employability skills, the same statewide, so a school and an employer can point at the same list. For each one, which is closest to how your program handles it? One choice per row. “Not really addressed” is a perfectly good answer; no program covers all ten and we are not scoring you.
AdaptabilityWhat Oregon calls it with students: Open to Change
Analysis/Solution MindsetWhat Oregon calls it with students: Problem Solver
CollaborationWhat Oregon calls it with students: Team Player
CommunicationWhat Oregon calls it with students: Good Communicator
Digital LiteracyWhat Oregon calls it with students: Good with Technology
EmpathyWhat Oregon calls it with students: Sensitive to Others
Entrepreneurial MindsetWhat Oregon calls it with students: Go-Getter
ResilienceWhat Oregon calls it with students: Handles Setbacks
Self-AwarenessWhat Oregon calls it with students: Self-Understanding
Social Diversity/AwarenessWhat Oregon calls it with students: Sensitivity to Differences

Three last things

Optional: research use of your responses

WBTO studies the quality of its own assessment methods, including how consistently different experts rate the same skills. We would like to include your responses, with all identifying information removed, in that methods research, which may be published. Your name, organization, and school would never appear, and results are reported only in combined form. This choice does not affect this assessment or your participation in any way.