Lift materials or workpieces using cranes or other lifting equipment
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 | 12 occupations |
| Tool categories that apply | None |
| O*NET activity | Controlling Machines and Processes (4.A.3.a.3) |
What this looks like on the job
Not our paraphrase. These are real task statements recorded against this activity, spread across the 12 occupations that perform it.
- Move parts into position, manually or with hoists or cranes.
- Pour, dump, or load prescribed quantities of ingredients or products into cooking equipment, manually or using a hoist.
- Lift workpieces onto work tables either manually or with hoists or direct crane operators to lift and position workpieces.
- Lift and position workpieces, manually or with hoists, and secure them in hoppers or on machine tables, faceplates, or chucks, using clamps.
- Lift metal stock or workpieces manually or using hoists, and position and secure them in machines, using fasteners and hand tools.
- Move and position workpieces, such as mold sections, patterns, and bottom boards, using cranes, or signal others to move workpieces.
- Lift, position, and secure machined parts on surface plates or worktables, using hoists, vises, v-blocks, or angle plates.
- Lift and position workpieces in relation to surface plates, manually or with hoists, and using parallel blocks and angle plates.
- Mount rolls of cloth on machines, using hoists, or place textile goods in machines or pieces of equipment.
- Lift and move loads, using cranes, hoists, and rigging, to install or repair hydroelectric system equipment or infrastructure.
- Lift workpieces to machines manually or with hoists or cranes.
- Lift raw materials, finished products, and packed items, manually or using hoists.
- Lift or move materials and finished products, using large cranes.
- Unclamp and hoist full reels from braiding, winding, or other fabricating machines, using power hoists.
- Attach slings, ropes, or cables to objects such as pipes, hoses, or bundles.
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
12 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators
- Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
- Foundry Mold and Coremakers
- Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Helpers--Production Workers
- Hydroelectric Plant Technicians
- Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Layout Workers, Metal and Plastic
- Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters
- Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and Tenders
- Tool and Die Makers
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Operate lifting or moving equipment”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.
| Activity | Jobs |
|---|---|
| Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment | 44 |
| Operate forklifts or other loaders | 6 |
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.