Maintain production or processing 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 | 38 occupations |
| Tool categories that apply | None |
| O*NET activity | Repairing and Maintaining Electronic Equipment (4.A.3.b.5) |
What could do this work.
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.
Who does this work.
38 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders
- Bakers
- Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders
- Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers
- Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators
- Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
- Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers
- Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders
- Gas Plant Operators
- Glass Blowers, Molders, Benders, and Finishers
- Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand
- Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
- Machinists
- Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
- Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers
- Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers
- Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators
- Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Pourers and Casters, Metal
- Power Plant Operators
- Prepress Technicians and Workers
- Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials
- Semiconductor Processing Technicians
- Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
- Sewing Machine Operators
- Shoe Machine Operators and Tenders
- Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators
- Team Assemblers
- Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine 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.