Job descriptions for forging and metal forming units: define the skill, not just the task

Pull out the job description for a heater in most forges and it says something like: operate furnace, load and unload billets, maintain temperature, follow safety rules. Now ask the hammerman what makes a good heater. He will tell you a different story. A good heater can tell from the glow whether a billet is hot to the core or only on the skin. He notices when the furnace is running uneven on one side. He spaces billets so the hammer never waits and never gets a cold one. He knows which steel grades scale heavily and must be descaled before the die, and he never lets a hearth corner sit cold. None of that appears on the card.

There lies the trouble. A list of tasks describes what anyone in the seat does. It is silent on what divides a careful, practised hand from a hazard. So the card cannot help you hire, cannot guide training and cannot justify a grade step.

Every forge seat has a few judgements that decide output, quality and die life. The role card should name them in plain shop language. For a tong holder on a drop hammer: turning and placing the stock between blows so the flash is even and the part does not shift. For a hammerman: judging how many blows the blocker and finisher impressions need, and noticing when fullering or edging has left too little stock. For a die setter: seeing the flash thicken unevenly and pulling the die before a corner cracks. For a cold header setter: tuning feed, cut-off and each station's punch so head diameter holds across a long run. For a roll setter: aligning a new roll set so the profile is right within the first few metres of coil.

Purpose. Deliver billets to the hammer at the right heat, at the right pace, without burning or underheating.
Key judgements. Read billet glow for soaked heat by steel grade, checking against the pyrometer gun. Spot uneven furnace heat. Pace billet release to the hammer rhythm. Decide when scale needs removal before forging.
Evidence of readiness. Runs the furnace through a full shift on two part families with no heat-related rejects, observed by the senior heater.
Safety must-dos. Face shield, aprons and boots worn; tongs inspected each shift; no reaching into the furnace mouth.
Works with. Hammerman, tong holder, shift in-charge, maintenance for furnace faults.
Signed off by. Senior heater and shift in-charge, dated.
Grade. Confirms heater grade; next step is senior heater after training one reliever.
Reviewed. Yearly, and whenever a fresh furnace or steel grade comes in.

• Hiring. You can ask a candidate how he reads a billet's heat, not just whether he has worked in a forge.
• Training. The judgements become the training list, with sign-off as proof.
• Grading. A heater who has passed the sign-off moves up a grade on evidence, not on how long he has been there.
• Audits. When a buyer's audit team wants names cleared on each press or gauge, the signed cards answer in minutes.
• Disputes. When a defect is argued over, the card shows what each seat was responsible for judging.

1. 1

   Begin where an empty seat idles the hammer

   Heater, tong holder, hammerman, die setter, header setter, roll setter, press setter. Helpers, fettlers and packers come after.

2. 2

   Sit with the best person in each seat

   Ask what they watch, hear and feel through the tongs or the press controls. Ask where beginners slip. Those answers become the key judgements.

3. 3

   Write each judgement as an observable action

   Reads billet colour for soaked heat, not understands heating. If a supervisor cannot watch it happen, rewrite it.

4. 4

   Add evidence and sign-off

   For each judgement, how readiness is shown and who confirms it. Keep it to things that can be observed on a normal shift.

5. 5

   Link to grades and pay

   Close every card with the grade it confirms and the rung above. A card with no rung attached gives nobody a reason to chase the sign-off.

6. 6

   Hold it to a single sheet

   A card that runs past one side of A4 has turned into a manual. Shift procedure detail into the work instruction file.

Header setter cards are sketched on our bolt and fastener plant role page. Roll setter cards appear on the purlin and roofing line role page. To have a full set drafted and graded, see our role card writing service. Setter cards deserve the most care, for reasons given in our post on changeover skill.

A card filed and forgotten goes stale inside a season. Reopen it whenever a screw press, an induction heater, a new die family or a fresh customer drawing reaches the floor. Ask the senior hand in each seat whether the listed judgements still describe the job.

Cards earn their keep only when people see them used. Bring the relevant card to every probation talk, every grade review and every promotion decision. Tick the judgements already signed and name the next one to work on. Over a year the shop builds an honest list of who can heat, hold, set and prove a die, the very list a visiting customer auditor wants to see. For how role cards sit beside crew cover, die care and pay, read the forge-floor people guide. For cards drafted against your own seats, outline the shop in our requirements questionnaire.