Move construction or extraction materials to locations where they are needed
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 | 13 occupations |
| Tool categories that apply | None |
| O*NET activity | Performing General Physical Activities (4.A.3.a.1) |
What this looks like on the job
Not our paraphrase. These are real task statements recorded against this activity, spread across the 13 occupations that perform it.
- Move terrazzo installation materials, tools, machines, or work devices to work areas, manually or using wheelbarrow.
- Load, unload, or identify building materials, machinery, or tools, distributing them to the appropriate locations, according to project plans or specifications.
- Coordinate machine actions with other activities, positioning or moving loads in response to hand or audio signals from crew members.
- Transport prefabricated parts to construction sites for assembly and installation.
- Transport materials, tools, or machines to installation sites, manually or using conveyance equipment.
- Select tools, equipment, or materials from storage and transport items to work site.
- Transport tools, materials, equipment, and supplies to work site by hand, handtruck, or heavy, motorized truck.
- Mix plaster, and carry plaster to plasterers.
- Requisition tools and equipment, select type and size of pipe, and collect and transport materials and equipment to work site.
- Hoist tar and roofing materials to roofs, using ropes and pulleys, or carry materials up ladders.
- Haul and spread sand, gravel, and clay to fill washouts and repair road shoulders.
- Supply and place base materials, edge restraints, bedding sand and jointing sand.
- Supply equipment to rig floors as requested and provide assistance to roughnecks.
- Raise, lower, or position equipment, tools, and materials, using hoist, hand line, or block and tackle.
- Cut pipe and lift up to fitters.
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
13 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Construction Laborers
- Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters
- Helpers--Carpenters
- Helpers--Electricians
- Helpers--Painters, Paperhangers, Plasterers, and Stucco Masons
- Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
- Helpers--Roofers
- Highway Maintenance Workers
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
- Roustabouts, Oil and Gas
- Segmental Pavers
- Sheet Metal Workers
- Terrazzo Workers and Finishers
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Move materials, equipment, or supplies”. 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.