Engrave designs, text, or other markings onto materials, workpieces, 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 | 7 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 7 occupations that perform it.
- Stencil identifying information on ingots and pigs, using special hand tools.
- Perform highly skilled hand finishing binding operations, such as grooving or lettering.
- Mark, engrave, or emboss designs on metal pieces such as castings, wire, or jewelry, following specifications.
- Stamp, etch, or scribe identifying information on finished component according to specifications.
- Engrave and print patterns, designs, etchings, trademarks, or lettering onto flat or curved surfaces of a wide variety of metal, glass, plastic, or paper items, using hand tools or hand-held power tools.
- Engrave or stamp identifying symbols, letters, or numbers on products.
- Drill holes and cut or carve moldings and grooves in stone, according to diagrams and patterns.
- Cut designs in molds or other materials to be used as models in the fabrication of metal and jewelry products.
- Sandblast exposed areas of glass to cut designs in surfaces, using spray guns.
- Shape, trim, or touch up roughed-out designs with appropriate tools to finish carvings.
- Guide stylus over template, causing cutting tool to duplicate design or letters on workpiece.
- Carve designs or figures in full or bas relief on stone, employing knowledge of stone carving techniques and sense of artistry to produce carvings consistent with designers' plans.
- Carve rough designs freehand or by chipping along marks on stone, using mallets and chisels or pneumatic tools.
- Guide nozzles over stone, following stencil outlines, or chip along marks to create designs or to work surfaces down to specified finishes.
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
7 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
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.