Plastic technician vs injection machine operator

The differences between plastic technicians and injection machine operators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a plastic technician has an average salary of $36,725, which is higher than the $31,693 average annual salary of an injection machine operator.

The top three skills for a plastic technician include hand tools, grinders and extrusion. The most important skills for an injection machine operator are PET, hand tools, and mold injection.

Plastic technician vs injection machine operator overview

	Plastic Technician	Injection Machine Operator
Yearly salary	$36,725	$31,693
Hourly rate	$17.66	$15.24
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	6,368	58,188
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 34%	High School Diploma, 46%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	-	-

Plastic technician vs injection machine operator salary

Plastic technicians and injection machine operators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Plastic Technician	Injection Machine Operator
Average salary	$36,725	$31,693
Salary range	Between $28,000 And $47,000	Between $24,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between plastic technician and injection machine operator education

There are a few differences between a plastic technician and an injection machine operator in terms of educational background:

	Plastic Technician	Injection Machine Operator
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 34%	High School Diploma, 46%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Plastic technician vs injection machine operator demographics

Here are the differences between plastic technicians' and injection machine operators' demographics:

	Plastic Technician	Injection Machine Operator
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 83.4% Female, 16.6%	Male, 65.2% Female, 34.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 19.3% Asian, 7.8% White, 58.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 7.9% White, 59.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	3%	3%

Differences between plastic technician and injection machine operator duties and responsibilities

Plastic technician example responsibilities.

Manage utilization of LOTO procedures, GMP standards and OSHA safety standards.
Melt and apply solder along edges of work pieces to solder joints using soldering irons and gas torches.
Operate various plastic sheet extrusion machines to supply the thermoforming department.
Maintain ISO standards, training, meetings, and safety procedures.
Operate and maintain material dryers and resin systems to include regrind during the shift.
Perform and record require checks on dryers, material blending and resin systems and react to out of spec conditions.

Injection machine operator example responsibilities.

Require molding expect rate of part producing and achieving ISO QualityStandards.
Use hoists and motorize pallet jacks to move dies.
Produce and maintain accurate documentation for production reports using math and computer skills.
Put a retainer on by using metal clips.

Plastic technician vs injection machine operator skills

Common plastic technician skills

Hand Tools, 21%
Grinders, 16%
Extrusion, 16%
Process Adjustments, 14%
Color Changes, 14%
ABS, 9%

Common injection machine operator skills

PET, 17%
Hand Tools, 15%
Mold Injection, 14%
Customer Specifications, 11%
Plastic Bottles, 9%
Quality Checks, 6%

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Plastic Technician
Plastic Technician vs Injection Machine Operator

Updated January 8, 2025

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