Connect electrical components or equipment
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 | 15 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 15 occupations that perform it.
- Lay cable and hook up electrical connections between machines, power sources, and phone lines.
- Install, connect, or test underground or aboveground grounding systems.
- Route and connect cables and lines to switches, switchboard equipment, and distributing frames, using wire-wrap guns or soldering irons to connect wires to terminals.
- Splice wires with knives or cutting pliers, and solder connections to fixtures, outlets, and equipment.
- Disconnect voltage regulators, bolts, and screws, and connect replacement regulators to high-voltage lines.
- Splice wires with knives or cutting pliers, and solder connections to fixtures and equipment.
- Connect electrical systems to outside power sources, and activate switches to test the operation of appliances or light fixtures.
- Set in and secure floor treadles for door-activating mechanisms, and connect power packs and electrical panelboards to treadles.
- Connect regulators to test stands, and turn screw adjustments until gauges indicate that inlet and outlet pressures meet specifications.
- Lay out and connect electrical wiring between controls and equipment, according to wiring diagrams, using electrician's hand tools.
- Install watt-hour meters and connect service drops between power lines and consumers' facilities.
- Splice cables, using hand tools, epoxy, or mechanical equipment.
- Connect electrical systems to outside power sources and activate switches to test the operation of appliances and light fixtures.
- Adjust, connect, or disconnect wiring, piping, tubing, and other parts, using hand or power tools.
- Fabricate, install, position, or connect components, parts, finished products, or instruments for testing or operational purposes.
- Insert plugs into receptacles and bolt or screw leads to terminals to connect equipment to power sources, using hand tools.
- Measure, cut, and install frameworks and conduit to support and connect wiring, control panels, and junction boxes, using hand tools.
- Splice and connect cables from meters or current transformers to pull boxes or switchboards, using hand tools.
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
15 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Computer, Automated Teller, and Office Machine Repairers
- Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door
- Electrical and Electronics Installers and Repairers, Transportation Equipment
- Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay
- Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers
- Electronic Equipment Installers and Repairers, Motor Vehicles
- Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers
- Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers
- Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
- Manufactured Building and Mobile Home Installers
- Mechanical Door Repairers
- Radio, Cellular, and Tower Equipment Installers and Repairers
- Recreational Vehicle Service Technicians
- Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers
- Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Connect components or supply lines to equipment or tools”. 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.