Drill holes in parts, equipment, or materials
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 | 22 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 22 occupations that perform it.
- Cut openings and drill holes for fixtures, outlet boxes, and fuse holders, using electric drills and routers.
- Cut openings and drill holes for fixtures and equipment, using electric drills and routers.
- Drill holes for wiring in wall studs, joists, ceilings, or floors.
- Remove or cut out defective parts or drill holes to gain access to internal defects or damage, using drills and punches.
- Prepare doors for hardware installation, such as drilling holes to install locks.
- Cut or drill holes in floors, walls, or roof to install equipment, using power saws or drills.
- Lay out mounting holes, using measuring instruments, and drill holes with power drill.
- Drill holes in rock and rig explosives for underwater demolitions.
- Open safe locks by drilling.
- Drill or tap holes in specified equipment locations to mount control units or to provide openings for elements, wiring, or instruments.
- Drill, tap, ream, countersink, and spot-face bolt holes in parts, using drill presses and portable power drills.
- Lay out and drill, ream, tap, or cut parts for assembly.
- Move machine controls to lower tools to workpieces and to engage automatic feeds.
- Drill, countersink, and ream holes in parts and assemblies for bolts, screws, and other fasteners, using power tools.
- Set up and operate drill presses to drill and tap holes in parts for assembly.
- Punch holes in and fasten paper sheets, signatures, or other material, using hand or machine punches and staplers.
- Drill or punch holes and insert or attach metal rings, handles, and fastening hardware, such as buckles.
- Bore holes for insertion of screws or dowels, by hand or using boring machines.
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
22 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians
- Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters
- Commercial Divers
- Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers
- Electrical and Electronics Installers and Repairers, Transportation Equipment
- Electromechanical Equipment Assemblers
- Electronic Equipment Installers and Repairers, Motor Vehicles
- Engine and Other Machine Assemblers
- Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers
- Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers
- Locksmiths and Safe Repairers
- Mechanical Door Repairers
- Medical Appliance Technicians
- Millwrights
- Model Makers, Metal and Plastic
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic
- Print Binding and Finishing Workers
- Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers
- Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairers
- Stone Cutters and Carvers, Manufacturing
- Tool and Die Makers
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Drill holes in earth or materials”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.
| Activity | Jobs |
|---|---|
| Drill holes in construction materials | 12 |
| Drill holes in earth or rock | 4 |
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.