Fabricate parts or components
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 | 28 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 28 occupations that perform it.
- Straighten or reshape bent pressure vessel plates or structure parts, using hammers, jacks, or torches.
- Fabricate concrete beams, columns, and panels.
- Construct or fabricate parts, using hand tools, according to specifications.
- Fabricate or install metal sashes or moldings for glass installation, using aluminum or steel framing.
- Cut, thread, or hammer pipes to specifications, using tools such as saws, cutting torches, pipe threaders, or pipe benders.
- Mold or install ornamental plaster pieces, panels, or trim.
- Fabricate ducts for high efficiency heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to maximize efficiency of systems.
- Fabricate metal parts, such as steel frames, columns, beams, or girders, according to blueprints or instructions from supervisors.
- Thread conduit ends, connect couplings, and fabricate and secure conduit support brackets, using hand tools.
- Fabricate well casings.
- Fabricate parts and test aids as required.
- Rewind coils on cores in slots, or make replacement coils, using coil-winding machines.
- Build fiberglass or wooden enclosures for sound components, and fit them to automobile dimensions.
- Fabricate defective sections or parts, using metal fabricating machines, saws, brakes, shears, and grinders.
- Fabricate new metal parts, using drill presses, engine lathes, and other machine tools.
- Fabricate needed parts or items from sheet metal.
- Repair, fabricate, and install steel or wood fittings, using blueprints, shop sketches, and instruction manuals.
- Fabricate replacements for worn or broken parts, using welders, lathes, drill presses, or shaping or milling 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
28 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians
- Avionics Technicians
- Boilermakers
- Camera and Photographic Equipment Repairers
- Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers
- Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas
- Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers
- Electricians
- Electronic Equipment Installers and Repairers, Motor Vehicles
- Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians
- Glaziers
- Helpers--Electricians
- Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers
- Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
- Locksmiths and Safe Repairers
- Maintenance and Repair Workers, General
- Mechanical Door Repairers
- Medical Equipment Repairers
- Millwrights
- Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines
- Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners
- Plasterers and Stucco Masons
- Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
- Rail Car Repairers
- Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons
- Sheet Metal Workers
- Structural Iron and Steel Workers
- Watch and Clock Repairers
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Fabricate devices or components”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.
| Activity | Jobs |
|---|---|
| Fabricate devices or components | 6 |
| Fabricate products or components using machine tools | 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.