Replace vehicle glass
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 | 3 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 3 occupations that perform it.
- Replace damaged glass on vehicles.
- Prime all scratches on pinchwelds with primer and allow to dry.
- Repair window sash frames, attach weather stripping and channels to frames, and replace window glass, using hand tools.
- Install replacement glass in vehicles.
- Remove all dirt, foreign matter, and loose glass from damaged areas, apply primer along windshield or window edges, and allow primer to dry.
- Allow all glass parts installed with urethane ample time to cure, taking temperature and humidity into account.
- Apply a bead of urethane around the perimeter of each pinchweld and dress the remaining urethane on the pinchwelds so that it is of uniform level and thickness.
- Remove broken or damaged glass windshields or window glass from motor vehicles, using hand tools to remove screws from frames holding glass.
- Install, repair, or replace safety glass and related materials, such as back glass heating elements, on vehicles or equipment.
- Install rubber channeling strips around edges of glass or frames to weatherproof windows or to prevent rattling.
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
3 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Repair vehicle components”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.
| Activity | Jobs |
|---|---|
| Repair non-engine automotive or vehicle components | 10 |
| Repair defective engines or engine components | 8 |
| Rebuild parts or components | 4 |
| Repair tires | 3 |
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.