Operate industrial 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 | 13 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 13 occupations that perform it.
- Prepare test stations, instrumentation, or data acquisition systems for use in specific tests of fuel cell components or systems.
- Select, purchase, set up, operate, or troubleshoot state-of-the-art laser cutting equipment.
- Install, calibrate, operate, or maintain robots.
- Operate, test, or maintain robotic equipment used for green production applications, such as waste-to-energy conversion systems, minimization of material waste, or replacement of human operators in dangerous work environments.
- Set up and operate production equipment in accordance with current good manufacturing practices and standard operating procedures.
- Set up mechanical, hydraulic, or electric test equipment in accordance with engineering specifications, standards, or test procedures.
- Select, calibrate, or operate equipment used in the non-destructive testing of products or materials.
- Set up or operate prototype or test apparatus, such as control consoles, collimators, recording equipment, or cables.
- Operate or tend automated assembling equipment, such as robotics and fixed automation equipment.
- Operate mechanical hoppers and provide assistance in their adjustment and repair.
- Operate or tend machines to wash and remove impurities from items such as barrels or kegs, glass products, tin plate surfaces, dried fruit, pulp, animal stock, coal, manufactured articles, plastic, or rubber.
- Operate machinery used in the production process, or assist machine operators.
- Press buttons to activate cleaning equipment or machines.
- Start machines or equipment to begin production processes.
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.
- Automotive Engineering Technicians
- Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment
- Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders
- Electro-Mechanical and Mechatronics Technologists and Technicians
- Electromechanical Equipment Assemblers
- Fuel Cell Engineers
- Helpers--Production Workers
- Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians
- Non-Destructive Testing Specialists
- Photonics Engineers
- Photonics Technicians
- Robotics Engineers
- Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Operate industrial processing or production 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.