Schoolsoup.com » Careers » Precision Assemblers

Precision Assemblers Career Information

At School Soup we want to help you on your Precision Assemblers Career path. Here in our Precision Assemblers career section, we have lots of great information to help you learn all about Precision Assemblers. If you're interested in other possible careers, please select a career from the dropdown menu below to learn more about that specific career.

----- Select a Career ----- Accountants and Auditors Actors, Directors, and Producers Actuaries Adjusters, Investigators, and Collectors Administrative Service Managers Adult Education Teachers Aerospace Engineers Agricultural Engineers Agricultural Scientists Agricultural Workers Air Traffic Controllers Aircraft Mechanics and Engine Specialists Aircraft Pilots Animal Care and Service Workers Apparel Workers Architects Archivists and Curators Atmospheric Scientists Automotive Body Repairers Automotive Mechanics Bank Tellers Barbers and Cosmetologists Bill and Account Collectors Billing Clerks Bindery Workers Biological and Medical Scientists Biomedical Engineers Boilermakers Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks Bricklayers and Stonemasons Broadcast Technicians Brokerage Clerks and Statement Clerks Busdrivers Butchers and Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters Cardiovascular Technologists and Technicians Cargo and Freight Agents Cargo and Freight Agents Carpenters Carpet Installers Cashiers Chefs, Cooks, and Other Kitchen Workers Chemical Engineers Chemists Chiropractors Civil Engineers Clerical Supervisors and Managers Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians College and University Faculty Computer Control Programmers and Operators Computer Operators Computer Programmers Computer Scientists, Computer Engineers, and Systems Analysts Computer Software Engineers Concrete Masons and Terrazzo Workers Construction and Building Inspectors Construction Contractors and Managers Correction Officers Cost Estimators Counselors Counter and Rental Clerks Credit Clerks and Authorizers Dancers and Choreographers Demonstrators, Produst Promoters, and Models Dental Assistants Dental Hygienists Dental Laboratory Technicians Dentists Designers Desktop Publishers Diesel Mechanics Dietitians and Nutritionists Dispatchers Dispensing Opticians Drafters Drywall Workers and Lathers Economists and Marketing Research Analysts Education Administrators Electric Power Generating Plant Operators and Power Distributors and Dispat Electrical and Electronics Engineers Electricians Electroneuro- diagnostic Technologists Electronic Equipment Repairers Electronic Home Entertainment Equipment Repairers Elevator Installers and Repairers Emergency Medical Technicians Engineering Technicians Engineers Environmental Engineers Farm Equipment Mechanics Farm Operators and Managers File Clerks Financial Analysts and Personal Financial Advisors Financial clerks Financial Managers Firefighting Occupations Fishers, Hunters, and Trappers Flight Attendants Food and Beverage Service Workers Foresters and Conservation Scientists Forestry and Logging Occupations Funeral Directors Gaming Cage Workers Gaming Services Occupations Gardeners and Groundskeepers General Managers and Top Executives General Office Clerks Geologists and Geophysicists Glaziers Guards Handlers, Equipment Cleaners, Helpers, and Laborers Hazardous Materials Removal Health Information Technicians Health Services Managers Heating, Air-Conditioning Technicians Home Appliance and Power Tool Repairers Homemaker - Home Health Aides Hotel and Motel Desk Clerks Hotel Managers and Assistants Human Resources Assistants Human Resources Specialists and Managers Industrial Engineers Industrial Machinery Repairers Industrial Production Managers Information Clerks Inspectors, Testers, and Graders Instructional Coordinators Insulation Workers Insurance Agents and Brokers Insurance Underwriters Interviewing and New Accounts Clerks Janitors and Cleaners and Cleaning Supervisors Jewelers Job Opportunities in the Armed Forces Landscape Architects Lawyers and Judges Librarians Library Assistants and Bookmobile Drivers Library Technicians Licensed Practical Nurses Line Installers and Cable Splicers Loan Officers and Counselors Machinists and Tool Programmers Mail Clerks and Messengers Management Analysts and Consultants Manufacturers' and Wholesale Sales Representatives Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations Managers Material Moving Equipment Material Recording, Scheduling, Dispatching, and Distributing Occupations Materials Engineers Mathematicians Mechanical Engineers Medical Assistants Medical Transcriptionists Metallurgical, Ceramic, and Materials Engineers Meteorologists Mining Engineers Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics Motorcycle, Boat, and Small-Engine Mechanics Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners Musicians Nuclear Engineers Nuclear Medicine Technologists Nursing Aides and Psychiatric Aides Occupational Therapists Operations Research Analysts Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians Optometrists Order Clerks Painters and Paperhangers Painting and Coating Machine Operators Paralegals Payroll and Time keeping Clerks Personnel Clerks Pest Control Workers Petroleum Engineers Pharmacists Pharmacy Aids Pharmacy Technicians Photographers and Camera Operators Photographic Process Workers Physical Therapist Assistants and Aids Physical Therapists Physician Assistants Physicians Physicists and Astronomers Plasterers Plumbers and Pipefitters Podiatrists Police, Detectives, and Special Agents Postal Clerks and Mail Carriers Precision Assemblers Prepress Workers Printing Press Operators Private Household Workers Procurement Clerks Property and Real Estate Managers Protestant Ministers Psychologists Public Relations Specialists Purchasers and Buyers Rabbis Radio and Television Announcers and Newscasters Radiologic Technologists Rail Transportation Workers Real Estate Agents, Brokers, and Appraisers Receptionists Record Clerks Recreation Workers Recreational Therapists Registered Nurses Reporters and Correspondents Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks Respiratory Therapists Restaurant and Food Service Managers Retail Sales Worker Supervisors and Managers Retail Sales Workers Roman Catholic Priests Roofers School Teachers Kindergarten, Elementary, and Secondary Science Technicians Secretaries Securities and Financial Services Sales Representatives Semiconductor Processors Sheetmetal Workers Social and Human Services Assistants Social Scientists and Urban Planners Social Workers Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists Stationary Engineers Statisticians Stenographers and Court Reporters Stock Clerks Structural and Reinforcing Ironworkers Surgical Technologists Surveyors Systems Analysts, Computer Scientists, and Database Administrators Tax Examiners, Collectors, anc Revenue Agents Taxi Drivers and Chauffeurs Teacher Aides Telephone Operators Tool and Die Makers Traffic, Shipping, and Receiving Clerks Travel Agents Truckdrivers Typists, Word Processors, and Data Entry Keyers Urban and Regional Planners Vending Machine Servicers and Repairers Veterinarians Visual Artists Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators Water Transportation Occupations Welders, Cutters, and Welding Machine Operators Woodworking Occupations Writers and Editors View All Careers

• Significant Points
• Nature of the Work
• Working Conditions
• Employment
• Training, Qualifications, Adv.

• Job Outlook
• Earnings
• Related Occupations
• Sources of Additional Information

Significant Points

·            Virtually all assemblers and fabricators work in plants that manufacture durable goods, such as computers and automobile engines.

·            A high school diploma is preferred for most positions; applicants need specialized training for some assembly jobs.

·            Projected slower-than-average employment growth reflects increasing automation and the shift of assembly to countries with lower labor costs.

Nature of the Work

Assemblers and fabricators produce a wide range of finished goods from manufactured parts or subassemblies. They produce intricate manufactured products, such as aircraft, automobile engines, computers, and electrical and electronic components.

Assemblers may work on subassemblies or the final assembly of an array of finished products or components. For example, electrical and electronic equipment assemblers put together or modify missile control systems, radio or test equipment, computers, machine-tool numerical controls, radar, or sonar, and prototypes of these and other products. Electromechanical equipment assemblers prepare and test equipment or devices such as appliances, dynamometers, or ejection-seat mechanisms. Coil winders, tapers, and finishers wind wire coil used in resistors, transformers, generators, and electric motors. Engine and other machine assemblers construct, assemble, or rebuild engines and turbines, and office, agricultural, construction, oilfield, rolling mill, textile, woodworking, paper, and food wrapping machinery. Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers put together and install parts of airplanes, space vehicles, or missiles, such as wings or landing gear. Structural metal fabricators and fitters align and fit structural metal parts according to detailed specifications prior to welding or riveting.

Assemblers and fabricators involved in product development read and interpret engineering specifications from text, drawings, and computer-aided drafting systems. They also may use a variety of tools and precision measuring instruments. Some experienced assemblers work with engineers and technicians, assembling prototypes or test products.

As technology changes, so too does the manufacturing process. For example, flexible manufacturing systems include the manufacturing applications of robotics, computers, programmable motion control, and various sensing technologies. These systems change the way in which goods are made, and affect the jobs of those who make them. The concept of cellular manufacturing, for example, places a greater premium on the teamwork of and communication within "cells" of workers than it does on the old assembly line process. Team assemblers perform all of the assembly tasks assigned to their teams, rotating through the different tasks, rather than specializing in a single task. They also may decide how the work is to be assigned and how different tasks are to be performed. Some aspects of team assembly, such as rotating tasks, are becoming more common to all assembly and fabrication occupations. As the U.S. manufacturing sector continues to evolve in the face of growing international competition and changing technology, the nature of assembly and fabrication will change along with it.

Working Conditions

The working conditions for assemblers and fabricators vary from plant to plant and from industry to industry. Conditions may be noisy and many assemblers may have to sit or stand for long periods. Both electronic and electromechanical equipment assemblers, for example, sit at tables in rooms that are clean, well-lit, and free from dust. Some electrical and electronics assemblers come in contact with soldering fumes, but ventilation systems and fans normally minimize this problem. Aircraft assemblers, however, usually come in contact with oil and grease, and their working areas may be quite noisy. They also may have to lift and fit heavy objects. In many cases, developments in ergonomics have improved working conditions through changes in workstation design and the increased use of robots or other pneumatically powered machinery to lift heavy objects.

Most full-time assemblers work a 40-hour week, although overtime and shiftwork is fairly common in some industries. Work schedules of assemblers may vary at plants with more than one shift.

Employment

Virtually all of the 2.7 million assembler and fabricator jobs in 2009 were in plants that manufacture durable goods. Team assemblers, the largest specialty, accounted for 55 percent of assembler and fabricator jobs. The distribution of employment among the various types of assemblers was as follows:

Team assemblers          1,458,000         

All other assemblers and fabricators        439,000

Electrical and electronic equipment assemblers    379,000

Structural metal fabricators and fitters      101,000

Electromechanical equipment assemblers            73,000 

Engine and other machine assemblers     67,000 

Coil winders, tapers, and finishers           56,000 

Fiberglass laminators and fabricators       48,000 

Aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers        20,000 

Timing device assemblers, adjusters, and calibrators        12,000 

Durable goods manufacturing industries employ 72 percent of assemblers and fabricators. Assembly of electronic and electrical equipment, including electrical switches, welding equipment, electric motors, lighting equipment, household appliances, and electronic devices accounted for 19 percent of all jobs. Assembly of transportation equipment, such as aircraft, autos, trucks, and buses accounted for 15 percent of all jobs. Other industries that employ many assemblers and fabricators were industrial machinery (diesel engines, steam turbine generators, farm tractors, and office machines), fabricated metal products, and instruments manufacturing.

The following tabulation shows the wage and salary employment of assemblers and fabricators in durable goods manufacturing in 2009 by industry.

Electronic and other electrical equipment 502,000

Transportation equipment            403,000

Industrial machinery and equipment         319,000

Fabricated metal products          197,000

Instruments and related products 165,000

Training, Qualifications, Adv.

New assemblers and fabricators are normally entry-level employees. The ability to do accurate work at a rapid pace and to follow detailed instructions are key job requirements. A high school diploma is preferred for most positions.

Applicants need specialized training for some assembly jobs. For example, employers may require that applicants for electrical or electronic assembler jobs be technical school graduates or have equivalent military training. Other positions require only on-the-job training, sometimes including employer-sponsored classroom instruction, in the broad range of assembly duties that employees may be required to perform.

Good eyesight, with or without glasses, is required for assemblers and fabricators who work with small parts. Plants that make electrical and electronic products may test applicants for color vision, because many of their products contain many differently colored wires. Manual dexterity and the ability to carry out complex, repetitive tasks quickly and methodically also are important.

As assemblers and fabricators become more experienced, they may progress to jobs that require more skill and be given more responsibility. Experienced assemblers may become product repairers if they have learned the many assembly operations and understand the construction of a product. These workers fix assembled articles that operators or inspectors have identified as defective. Assemblers also can advance to quality control jobs or be promoted to supervisor. Experienced assemblers and fabricators also may become members of research and development teams, working with engineers and other project designers to design, develop, build prototypes, and test new product models. In some companies, assemblers can become trainees for one of the skilled trades. Those with a background in math, science, and computers may advance to programmers or operators of more highly automated production equipment.

Job Outlook

Employment of assemblers and fabricators is expected to grow more slowly than the average for all occupations through the year 2010, reflecting increasing automation and the shift of assembly to countries with lower labor costs. As manufacturers strive for greater precision and productivity, automated machinery increasingly will be used to perform work more economically or more efficiently. Recent advancements have made robotics more applicable and more affordable in manufacturing. Advances in automation should continue raising the productivity of assembly workers and adversely affecting their employment. In addition to those stemming from growth, many job openings will result from the need to replace workers leaving this large occupational group.

The effects of automation will be felt more acutely among some types of assemblers and fabricators than among others. Flexible manufacturing systems are expensive, and a large volume of repetitive work is required to justify their purchase. Also, where the assembly parts involved are irregular in size or location, new technology only now is beginning to make inroads. For example, much assembly in the aerospace industry is done in hard-to-reach locations unsuited for robots—inside airplane fuselages or gear boxes, for example—and replacement of aircraft assemblers by automated processes will be slower and less comprehensive than replacement of other workers such as welders and painters. On the other hand, automation increasingly will be used in the precision assembly of electronic goods, in which a significant number of electronics assemblers are employed.

Many producers send their assembly functions to countries where labor costs are lower. This trend in assembly, promoted by more liberal trade and investment policies, results in shifts in the composition of America's manufacturing workforce. Decisions by American corporations to move assembly to other nations should limit employment growth for assemblers in some industries, such as electronics assembly, but a freer trade environment also may lead to growth in the export of goods assembled in the United States, resulting in the creation of additional jobs in other industries, such as aircraft assembly.

Earnings

Earnings vary by industry, geographic region, skill, educational level, and complexity of the machinery operated. In 2009, median hourly earnings were $19.64 for aircraft structure, surfaces, rigging, and systems assemblers; $13.47 for engine and other machine assemblers; $9.77 for coil winders, tapers, and finishers; $10.82 for fiberglass laminators and finishers; $10.11 for all other assemblers; $10.78 for timing device assemblers, calibrators, and adjusters; and $11.16 for electromechanical equipment assemblers.

Median hourly earnings of team assemblers were $10.32 in 2009. The middle 50 percent earned between $8.39 and $13.11. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $7.05, and the highest 10 percent earned $16.95. Median hourly earnings in the manufacturing industries employing the largest numbers of team assemblers in 2009 are shown below:

Motor vehicles and equipment     $13.15 

Medical instruments and supplies            10.30   

Fabricated structural metal products        10.05   

Miscellaneous plastics products, not elsewhere classified 9.49     

Personnel supply services          7.93     

Median hourly earnings of electrical and electronic equipment assemblers were $10.31 in 2009. The middle 50 percent earned between $8.44 and $12.97. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $7.10, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $16.28. Median hourly earnings in the manufacturing industries employing the largest numbers of electrical and electronic equipment assemblers in 2009 are shown below:

Computer and office equipment   $11.68 

Measuring and controlling devices           11.43   

Electrical industrial apparatus     10.61   

Communications equipment        10.23   

Electronic components and accessories  9.93     

Many assemblers and fabricators are members of labor unions. These unions include the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers; the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America; the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America; the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; and the United Steelworkers of America.

Related Occupations

Other occupations that involve operating machines and tools and assembling products include welding, soldering, and brazing workers; ophthalmic laboratory technicians; and machine setters, operators, and tenders—metal and plastic.

Sources of Additional Information

Information about employment opportunities for assemblers is available from local offices of the State employment service and from locals of the unions mentioned earlier.