Package objects for shipping
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 | 11 occupations |
| Tool categories that apply | None |
| O*NET activity | Handling and Moving Objects (4.A.3.a.2) |
What this looks like on the job
Not our paraphrase. These are real task statements recorded against this activity, spread across the 11 occupations that perform it.
- Pack products for shipping.
- Bag, box, wrap, or gift-wrap merchandise, and prepare packages for shipment.
- Process orders for goods requested in correspondence.
- Pack goods for shipping, using tools such as staplers, strapping machines, and hammers.
- Bundle mail in preparation for delivery or transportation to relay boxes.
- Bundle, label, and route sorted mail to designated areas, depending on destinations and according to established procedures and deadlines.
- Pack, seal, label, or affix postage to prepare materials for shipping, using hand tools, power tools, or postage meter.
- Fill orders for products and samples, following order tickets, and forward or mail items.
- Wrap packages or bundles by hand, or by using tying machines.
- Pack and ship pottery to stores or galleries for retail sale.
- Obtain merchandise from bins or shelves.
- Install straps, braces, and padding to loads to prevent shifting or damage during shipment.
- Rewrap soiled or broken parcels.
- Fold letters or circulars and insert them in envelopes.
- Pack customer purchases in bags or cartons.
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
11 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Cargo and Freight Agents
- Cashiers
- Correspondence Clerks
- Craft Artists
- Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service
- Postal Service Mail Carriers
- Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators
- Potters, Manufacturing
- Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks
- Stockers and Order Fillers
- Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Package objects”. 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.