Lubricate production 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 | 26 occupations |
| Tool categories that apply | None |
| O*NET activity | Repairing and Maintaining Electronic Equipment (4.A.3.b.5) |
What this looks like on the job
Not our paraphrase. These are real task statements recorded against this activity, spread across the 26 occupations that perform it.
- Clean and lubricate machines.
- Perform maintenance work such as cleaning and oiling machines.
- Perform minor machine maintenance, such as oiling or cleaning machines, dies, or workpieces, or adding coolant to machine reservoirs.
- Clean, lubricate, maintain, and adjust equipment to maintain efficient operation, using air hoses, cleaning fluids, and hand tools.
- Perform equipment maintenance, such as cleaning tanks and lubricating moving parts of conveyors.
- Perform basic maintenance, such as cleaning and lubricating machine parts.
- Clean or oil presses or make minor repairs, using hand tools.
- Lubricate, clean, or make minor repairs to machine parts to keep machines in working condition.
- Clean machine filters, and lubricate equipment.
- Clean, oil, and lubricate machines, using air hoses, cleaning solutions, rags, oilcans, and grease guns.
- Clean, oil, and lubricate machines, using air hoses, cleaning solutions, rags, oil cans, or grease guns.
- Lubricate or clean machines, using wrenches, grease guns, or solvents.
- Grease or oil woodworking machines.
- Clean, lubricate, or maintain equipment, such as generators, turbines, pumps, or compressors, to prevent failure or deterioration.
- Change oil, hydraulic fluid, or other lubricants to maintain condition of hydroelectric plant equipment.
- Clean and lubricate boilers and auxiliary equipment and make minor adjustments as needed, using hand tools.
- Maintain, repair, and lubricate equipment, using hand tools and power tools.
- Inspect pipelines, tightening connections and lubricating valves as necessary.
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
26 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders
- Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders
- Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
- Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders
- Helpers--Production Workers
- Hydroelectric Plant Technicians
- Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers
- Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders
- Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers
- Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Power Plant Operators
- Print Binding and Finishing Workers
- Printing Press Operators
- Recycling and Reclamation Workers
- Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood
- Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators
- Textile Cutting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
- Textile Knitting and Weaving Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
- Textile Winding, Twisting, and Drawing Out Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
- Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners
- Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators
- Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
- Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Maintain tools or equipment”. 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.