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Alabama Department of Labor

Labor Market Information Division
SOC: 51-5113 Print Binding and Finishing Workers
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Education: These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
OJT: Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Tasks: Apply color to edges of signatures using brushes, pads, or atomizers. Bind new books, using hand tools such as bone folders, knives, hammers, or brass binding tools. Compress sewed or glued signatures, using hand presses or smashing machines. Cut binder boards to specified dimensions, using board shears, hand cutters, or cutting machines. Cut cover material to specified dimensions, fitting and gluing material to binder boards by hand or machine. Design original or special bindings for limited editions or other custom binding projects. Form book bodies by folding and sewing printed sheets to form signatures and assembling signatures in numerical order. Imprint or emboss lettering, designs, or numbers on book covers, using gold, silver, or colored foil, and stamping machines. Insert book bodies in devices that form back edges of books into convex shapes and produce grooves that facilitate cover attachment. Maintain records, such as daily production records, using specified forms. Meet with clients, printers, or designers to discuss job requirements or binding plans. Monitor machine operations to detect malfunctions or to determine whether adjustments are needed. Perform highly skilled hand finishing binding operations, such as grooving or lettering. Punch holes in and fasten paper sheets, signatures, or other material, using hand or machine punches and staplers. Read work orders to determine instructions and specifications for machine set-up. Repair, restore, or rebind old, rare, or damaged books, using hand tools. Set up or operate bindery machines, such as coil binders, thermal or tape binders, plastic comb binders, or specialty binders. Set up or operate glue machines by filling glue reservoirs, turning switches to activate heating elements, or adjusting glue flow or conveyor speed. Set up or operate machines that perform binding operations, such as pressing, folding, or trimming. Stitch or glue endpapers, bindings, backings, or signatures, using sewing machines, glue machines, or glue and brushes. Trim edges of books to size, using cutting machines, book trimming machines, or hand cutters. Examine stitched, collated, bound, or unbound product samples for defects, such as imperfect bindings, ink spots, torn pages, loose pages, or loose or uncut threads. Install or adjust bindery machine devices, such as knives, guides, rollers, rounding forms, creasing rams, or clamps, to accommodate sheets, signatures, or books of specified sizes. Lubricate, clean, or make minor repairs to machine parts to keep machines in working condition. Prepare finished books for shipping by wrapping or packing books and stacking boxes on pallets. Train workers to set up, operate, and use automatic bindery machines.
License: License not required.
Outlook: poor
Alabama Employment Outlook
Alabama Wage Data
Hourly Wage   Annual Wage
Entry $11.01   Entry $22,876.00
Mean $15.37   Mean $31,963.00
Experience $17.55 Experience $36,501.00

The data is based on the May 2017 Occupation Employment Survey employment and wage estimate file. The wages have been aged using the most current ECI factors reflecting wages as of June 2018.

Alabama Projections
Estimated Employment 2016Projected Employment 2026Annual Average OpeningsAnnual Growth Rate
31028035-1.01
Related Occupations: Postsecondary Institutions With Programs:
Cutters and Trimmers, Hand
Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles
Model Makers, Metal and Plastic
Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders
Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators
Printing Press Operators
Solderers and Brazers
Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters
Welders, Cutters, and Welder Fitters
No postsecondary schools reported programs.
Occupational Videos
51-5113.00 Print Binding and Finishing Workers