Examine condition of property 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 | 11 occupations |
| Tool categories that apply | None |
| O*NET activity | Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials (4.A.1.b.2) |
What this looks like on the job
Not our paraphrase. These are real task statements recorded against this activity, spread across the 11 occupations that perform it.
- Ensure that equipment or devices are properly stored after use.
- Examine products purchased for resale or received for storage to assess the condition of each product or item.
- Examine merchandise to ensure correct pricing and display, and that it functions as advertised.
- Receive, examine, and tag articles to be altered, cleaned, stored, or repaired.
- Examine returned parts for defects, and exchange defective parts or refund money.
- Inspect property, examining its general condition, type of construction, age, and other characteristics, to decide if it is a good insurance risk.
- Inspect condition of premises, and arrange for necessary maintenance or notify owners of maintenance needs.
- Examine unexposed photographic plates to detect flaws or foreign particles prior to printing.
- Examine furniture frames, upholstery, springs, and webbing to locate defects.
- Examine furniture to determine the extent of damage or deterioration, and to decide on the best method for repair or restoration.
- Visually inspect cargo for damage upon arrival or discharge.
- Examine merchandise to ensure that it is correctly priced and displayed and that it functions as advertised.
- Examine products purchased for resale or received for storage to determine product condition.
- Inspect and adjust rental items to meet needs of customer.
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
11 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Inspect characteristics or conditions of materials or products”. 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.