Which jobs involve set equipment controls to meet cutting specifications?

20 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity, including Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators, Cutters and Trimmers, Hand, Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic, Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic.

What kind of work is this?

It is physical, manual and inspection work. O*NET files it under the work activity "Handling and Moving Objects" (element 4.A.3.a.2).

Set equipment controls to meet cutting specifications

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.

Key facts about this work activity
How automatable	Barely automatable
Kind of work	Physical, manual and inspection work
Jobs that do it	20 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 20 occupations that perform it.

Turn controls to set cutting speeds, feed rates, or table angles for specified operations.
Select and set cutting speeds, feed rates, depths of cuts, and cutting tools, according to machining instructions or knowledge of metal properties.
Move controls to set cutting speeds and depths and feed rates, and to position tools in relation to workpieces.
Move controls to set cutting specifications, to position cutting tools and workpieces in relation to each other, and to start machines.
Select, install, and adjust alignment of drills, cutters, dies, guides, and holding devices, using templates, measuring instruments, and hand tools.
Compute numbers, widths, and angles of cutting tools, micrometers, scales, and gauges, and adjust tools to produce specified cuts.
Adjust cutting techniques to types of fabrics and styles of garments.
Install, level, and align machine components such as gears, chains, guides, dies, cutters, or needles to set up machinery for operation.
Set up, operate, and adjust a variety of woodworking machines such as bandsaws and planers to cut and shape sections, parts, and patterns, according to specifications.
Set up, operate, and adjust a variety of woodworking machines such as bandsaws and lathes to cut and shape sections, parts, and patterns, according to specifications.
Adjust saw blades, using wrenches and rulers, or by turning handwheels or pressing pedals, levers, or panel buttons.
Adjust machine tables or cutting devices and set controls on machines to produce specified cuts or operations.
Adjust guides and stops to control depths and widths of cuts.
Remove defective or substandard materials from machines, and readjust machine components so that products meet standards.
Position and adjust cutting tools to specified curvature, dimensions, and depth of cut.
Adjust machine feed and speed, change cutting tools, or adjust machine controls when automatic programming is faulty or if machines malfunction.
Adjust depths and sizes of cuts by adjusting heights of worktables, or by adjusting machine-arm gauges.
Adjust pressures, temperatures, and trimming tool settings as required.

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.

Our pickBuy nothing

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.

Research an account firstGenerate a one-page account brief before every call so you spend the meeting on what matters, not what Google already knows.Sales · 8 steps Answer inbound leads in a minuteAcknowledge every form submission in under sixty seconds and ask one qualifying question while you sleep.Sales · 9 steps

Who does this work

20 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 “Adjust equipment to ensure adequate performance”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.

Related work activities
Activity	Jobs
Adjust equipment to ensure optimal performance	40
Adjust temperature controls of ovens or other heating equipment	26
Calibrate scientific or technical equipment	20
Adjust equipment controls to regulate flow of production materials or products	16
Adjust equipment controls to regulate coolant flow	14
Adjust settings or positions of medical equipment	12
Calibrate equipment to specifications	11
Adjust vehicle components according to specifications	10

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.