Repair worn, damaged, or defective mechanical parts
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 Mechanical Equipment (4.A.3.b.4) |
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.
- Repair or remove and replace system components.
- Repair, adjust, or replace electrical or mechanical components or parts, using hand tools, power tools, or soldering or welding equipment.
- Adjust, repair, or replace malfunctioning components or assemblies, using hand tools or soldering irons.
- Repair or adjust equipment, machines, or defective components, replacing worn parts, such as gaskets or seals in watertight electrical equipment.
- Maintain, repair, and rebuild aircraft structures, functional components, and parts, such as wings and fuselage, rigging, hydraulic units, oxygen systems, fuel systems, electrical systems, gaskets, or seals.
- Repair and service air conditioning, heating, engine cooling, and electrical systems.
- Repair or replace defective parts, using hand tools, milling and woodworking machines, lathes, welding equipment, grinders, or saws.
- Repair and replace damaged or worn parts.
- Repair or replace defective or worn parts such as bearings, pistons, and gears, using hand tools, torque wrenches, power tools, and welding equipment.
- Repair or rework parts, using machine tools such as lathes, mills, drills, or grinders.
- Repair or replace defective parts such as magnetos, water pumps, gears, pistons, and carburetors, using hand tools.
- Diagnose and repair furnace or air conditioning systems.
- Repair or replace worn or broken door parts, using hand tools.
- Disassemble and repair mechanical control devices or valves, such as regulators, thermostats, or hydrants, using power tools, hand tools, and cutting torches.
- Repair or replace defective equipment, components, or wiring.
- Service and repair domestic electrical or gas appliances, such as clothes washers, refrigerators, stoves, and dryers.
- Repair or replace broken or malfunctioning components of machinery or equipment.
- Replace or repair metal, wood, leather, glass, or other lining in machines, or in equipment compartments or containers.
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.
- Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians
- Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics
- Avionics Technicians
- Coin, Vending, and Amusement Machine Servicers and Repairers
- Computer, Automated Teller, and Office Machine Repairers
- Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door
- Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment
- Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians
- Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers
- Home Appliance Repairers
- Industrial Machinery Mechanics
- Locksmiths and Safe Repairers
- Maintenance Workers, Machinery
- Mechanical Door Repairers
- Medical Equipment Repairers
- Millwrights
- Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines
- Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians
- Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners
- Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics
- Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
- Rail Car Repairers
- Recreational Vehicle Service Technicians
- Refractory Materials Repairers, Except Brickmasons
- Signal and Track Switch Repairers
- Watch and Clock Repairers
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Repair tools or equipment”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.
| Activity | Jobs |
|---|---|
| Replace worn equipment components | 32 |
| Repair production equipment or tools | 29 |
| Replace worn, damaged, or defective mechanical parts | 28 |
| Repair green energy equipment or systems | 2 |
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.