Packaging Machinery Technicians
Overview
Introduction
Packaging machinery technicians work with automated machinery that packages products into bottles, cans, bags, boxes, cartons, and other containers. The machines perform various operations, such as forming, filling, closing, labeling, and marking. The systems and technologies that packaging machinery technicians work with are diverse. Depending on the job, packaging machinery technicians may work with electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, or pneumatic systems. They also may work with computerized controllers, fiber-optic transmitters, ...
Quick Facts
Median Salary
Employment Prospects
Minimum Education Level
Experience
Skills
Personality Traits
Earnings
Earnings vary with geographical area and the employees experience and job responsibilities. Other variables that may affect salary include the size of the company and the type of industry, such as the food and beverage industry or the electronics industry. Technicians who work at companies with unions generally, but not always, earn higher salaries.
According to the U.S. Department of La...
Work Environment
Packaging machinery technicians work in a variety of environments. They may work for a machinery manufacturer or in the manufacturing department of a plant or factory. Most plants are clean and well ventilated, although actual conditions vary based on the type of product manufactured and packaged. Certain types of industries and manufacturing methods can pose special problems. For example, plan...
Outlook
The U.S. Department of Labor predicts that employment for industrial machinery mechanics will increase at an average rate through 2028. With the growth of the packaging industry, which grosses more than $100 billion a year, a nationwide shortage of trained packaging machinery technicians has developed over the last 20 years.
The packaging machinery industry is expected to continue its gr...