Solder parts or workpieces
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 | 9 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 9 occupations that perform it.
- Weld tubing and fittings or solder cable ends, using tack welders, induction brazing chambers, or other equipment.
- Assemble electrical or electronic systems or support structures and install components, units, subassemblies, wiring, or assembly casings, using rivets, bolts, soldering or micro-welding equipment.
- Wire and solder electrical and electronic connections and components.
- Melt and apply solder along adjoining edges of workpieces to solder joints, using soldering irons, gas torches, or electric-ultrasonic equipment.
- Dress electrodes, using tip dressers, files, emery cloths, or dressing wheels.
- Connect metal parts or components in hydroelectric plants by welding, soldering, riveting, tapping, bolting, bonding, or screwing.
- Make repairs, such as enlarging or reducing ring sizes, soldering pieces of jewelry together, and replacing broken clasps and mountings.
- Shape and solder wire and metal frames or bands for dental products, using soldering irons and hand tools.
- Repair broken parts, using precision hand tools and soldering irons.
- Melt and apply solder to fill holes, indentations, or seams of fabricated metal products, using soldering equipment.
- Fill hoppers and position spouts to direct flow of flux or manually brush flux onto seams of workpieces.
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
9 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers
- Dental Laboratory Technicians
- Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers
- Hydroelectric Plant Technicians
- Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers
- Model Makers, Metal and Plastic
- Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians
- Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers
- Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Join parts using soldering, welding, or brazing techniques”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.
| Activity | Jobs |
|---|---|
| Operate welding equipment | 23 |
| Weld metal components | 12 |
| Solder parts or connections between parts | 8 |
| Braze metal parts or components | 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.