Fill cracks, imperfections, or holes in products or workpieces
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 | 8 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 8 occupations that perform it.
- Smooth and clean inner surfaces of molds, using brushes, scrapers, air hoses, or grinding wheels, and fill imperfections with refractory material.
- Fill and smooth cracks or depressions, remove marks and imperfections, and repair broken parts, using plastic or wood putty, glue, nails, or screws.
- Fill chipped or low spots in surfaces of devices, using acrylic resins.
- Conceal blemishes in workpieces, such as nicks and dents, using fillers such as putty.
- Fill small dents or scratches with body fillers and smooth surfaces to prepare for painting.
- Fill etched characters with opaque paste to improve readability.
- Patch broken edges or fractures, using clay or plaster.
- Fill cuts and holes in tires, using hot rubber.
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
8 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
- Dental Laboratory Technicians
- Etchers and Engravers
- Furniture Finishers
- Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic
- Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers
- Tire Builders
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Apply materials to fill gaps or imperfections”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.
| Activity | Jobs |
|---|---|
| Apply material to fill gaps in surfaces | 13 |
| Seal gaps or cracks to prevent leakage or moisture intrusion | 6 |
| Apply mortar | 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.