Assemble metal or plastic parts or products
Little of this can be handed to software today.
This happens in the physical world, so software agents do not touch it. Automation here means robotics and machinery, which is a different market from the one mapped on this site, on a much slower clock.
| How automatable | Barely automatable |
|---|---|
| Kind of work | Physical, manual and inspection work |
| Jobs that do it | 8 occupations |
| Tool categories that apply | None |
| O*NET activity | Handling and Moving Objects (4.A.3.a.2) |
What this looks like on the job
Not our paraphrase. These are real task statements recorded against this activity, spread across the 8 occupations that perform it.
- Assemble prefabricated parts to form subassemblies.
- Line slots with sheet insulation, and insert coils into slots.
- Assemble and install components of timepieces to complete mechanisms, using watchmakers' tools and loupes.
- Perform minor assembly, such as fastening parts with nuts, bolts, or screws, using power tools or hand tools.
- Align, fit, and join parts, using bolts and screws or by welding or gluing.
- Assemble, align, and clamp workpieces into holding fixtures to bond, heat-treat, or solder fabricated metal components.
- Lay out and fabricate metal structural parts such as plates, bulkheads, and frames.
- Align and assemble parts to produce completed products, using gauges and hand tools.
- Fabricate parts needed for assembly or installation, using shop machinery or equipment.
- Assemble mechanical, electrical, and electronic components into models or prototypes, using hand tools, power tools, and fabricating machines.
- Lay out, fit, or connect parts to be bonded, calculating production measurements, as necessary.
- Assemble parts, fittings, or subassemblies on aircraft, using layout tools, hand tools, power tools, or fasteners, such as bolts, screws, rivets, or clamps.
- Assemble prototypes or integrated-technology demonstrators of new or emerging environmental technologies for aircraft.
What we would actually use
Nothing in our landscape addresses this work. That is the honest answer rather than a padded list: this activity needs a person present, or a machine rather than a software agent.
Nothing on this site applies. Automation here is robotics and machinery, a different market on a much slower clock, and no software subscription moves it.
Chosen for the cheapest thing that does the job, not the best funded. Nothing on this site is sponsored, and the full landscape is there when you want to disagree with us.
How people actually do it
No workflow names this activity yet, but these automate the same kind of work, with the prompts to paste and what to keep for yourself.
Who does this work
8 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers
- Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers
- Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Layout Workers, Metal and Plastic
- Model Makers, Metal and Plastic
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic
- Timing Device Assemblers and Adjusters
- Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Assemble products or work aids”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.
Method. The activity, its taxonomy placement and the occupations that perform it come straight from the public-domain O*NET 30.3 database. The automatability band is ours: we map each of O*NET’s 41 generalized work activities to how much of its output current software can produce, assuming a person still reviews and owns the result. It is a coarse three-way judgment on purpose. A precise-looking percentage here would be invented.