Assembler Or Bench Hand
Machinery, instruments, tools, and other equipment are all usually composed of a number of parts fitted together or assembled. Each part has its assigned role and must fit properly into the whole affair. Except in mass production plants, a certain amount of handwork is necessary in the final assembly of a great deal of equipment as with dies, molds, special fixtures, machine tools, special production machinery, and so on. The assembler may scrape parts to fit, chip and file forgings and castings to suit, drill holes where necessary, adjust and align parts, bolt and otherwise fasten parts together, and perform other necessary fitting operations in accordance with blueprints and specifications. The assembler or bench hand becomes accustomed to working to close dimension tolerances using precision measuring instruments.
This is highly diversified and interesting work, often requiring a great deal of ingenuity and patience. It requires a good back ground, such as that possessed by a graduate apprentice. An all around machinist may specialize in this work. Promotion may be to supervisor. Wages range widely from $6.00 to $11.00 per hour depending upon the diversity of skills possessed.
Inspector
A great deal of this country's success in the production of metal goods is the result of the extreme care exercised in checking or inspecting the finished work, including the individual pieces, the sub assemblies, and the final assembled product. Inspection includes checking all measurements, dimensions, shapes, the quality of surface finishes, the operation of the parts, the assembly, and all the other items as required by blueprints and specifications. Quality control is critical.
An inspector must be able to figure out and set up all the necessary mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, and other apparatuses needed for the above checkups. In addition, he or she may be responsible for inspecting work that is progressing through the shop, having the authority to accept or reject unfinished work still in process of machining or finished and ready for use. The inspector may inspect single pieces, small lots, or large numbers of similar parts. In addition, he or she may check measuring instruments, such as micrometers, verniers, snap gauges, other gauges of all sorts, and production tools, such as drill jigs, fixtures, cutting tools, and dies.
To accomplish all this, the inspector must have a good background of mechanical training and experience and a thorough knowledge of shop mathematics, blueprint reading, and related sciences. Super sensitive inspection devices, using laser beams and electrical impulses, for example, have brought inspection departments to the front edge of technology.
In the last few years a relatively new profession, quality control, has sprung up in which inspection methods have been developed into a scientific approach to the whole problem of checking, thereby controlling the results of production. The top grade inspector with a good mathematical background and some engineering education can find a future as a quality controller.
All in all, inspection is a highly skilled and diversified type of work. Of course, there are many branches. The production inspector who checks work in process need not be as highly skilled as the tool inspector.
Ordinarily, the best inspectors are recruited from among all around machinists, toolmakers, and top machine operators. Pro motion may be to chief inspector, shop supervisor, methods planner, or jobs of a similar nature. Wages may vary from $8.00 to $10.00 per hour.
Layout Person
When large castings or metal parts come into the shop for machining, they are usually set up on a flat, horizontal metal plate and marked to show where the machining is to take place. This serves two purposes it guides the machinists and it indicates whether enough metal has been allowed for all machine finishes. This work is called layout, and the person who does it is usually a specialized all around machinist.
In working, he or she utilizes all sorts of marking and measuring tools to mark the guidelines, reference points, hole centers, and other important information on the castings and metal parts. The person responsible for layout must have a thorough knowledge of shop practice. He or she must know how the operators of the milling machines or boring machines, and others to whom the casting or part may go for machining will go about their work. The layout machinist must also be able to read and follow all sorts of blueprints and specifications and should have knowledge of shop mathematics.
It takes from six to ten years of experience to develop the necessary skill for layout work. A person in this specialty may become a chief inspector or a supervisor, or may go into production planning. Wages may vary from $7.00 to $10.00 per hour.
The Future Of The Machine Shop
Mention has already been made of rapid technological advances in machine shop practices, such as laser beams, electronics, hydraulics, and compressed air and electricity to control and automate mass production and inspection of articles, as in automobile factories, for instance. Let's pause now to consider the future impact of such practices and the future role of the machinist.
The use of computerized numerical control (CNC) equipment for automating the machining of identical parts has already been mentioned. The use of computers is steadily increasing and is now a standardized part of shop practice. These types of developments have opened new opportunities for machinists to become programmers. These are but a few, and there will be many other opportunities and challenges for skilled machinists and operators.
Articles are appearing more frequently in technical journals and the daily press about the increasing use of robots in mass production lines, such as in automobile factories. These electronically or otherwise controlled devices perform an automatic operation repeatedly.
More and more of these automated devices and machines will be used in the future, but they will not replace the skilled machinist. Skilled machinists will be needed to build and maintain these systems.
However, some assembly line people who used to do the tiresome, repetitive jobs those bored and discouraged workers will be displaced. Automated equipment and machines will eliminate many unskilled and semiskilled workers but they will also create new opportunities for the skilled worker.
Some predict that completely automated factories will produce articles without any personnel except a few floor monitors and inspectors. However, conversion to such sophisticated operations will be expensive. Furthermore, not all manufacturing processes can be so completely automated. Remember, these automated machines must be built and maintained by skilled people the machinists.
