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Operate industrial processing or production equipment

Work activity · O*NET

Operate industrial processing or production equipment is an intermediate work activity in the O*NET database — a concrete task that recurs across many occupations , grouped under Controlling Machines and Processes. 71 occupations report doing it as part of their work.

What it involves

The most common detailed activities O*NET records under this category, ranked by how many occupation tasks map to each.

  • Operate metal or plastic forming equipment
  • Operate photographic developing or print production equipment
  • Operate industrial equipment
  • Smooth garments with irons, presses, or steamers
  • Operate cooking, baking, or other food preparation equipment
  • Operate mixing equipment
  • Operate painting or coating equipment
  • Operate conveyors or other industrial material moving equipment

How AI is applied to this activity

Microsoft's "Working with AI" study mapped real Bing Copilot conversations to O*NET work activities. The figures below are their measurements for this activity — they describe how AI is used today in one assistant's data, not a forecast that the activity will be automated.

AI completes it successfully 100.0% When Copilot attempts this activity, how often it finishes the task
Scope AI handles 50.0% How much of the activity AI carries within a conversation
How often AI is applied here 9th pct Percentile across all measured activities by how often AI performs them

Source: Microsoft "Working with AI" (working-with-ai). A high completion rate means AI can assist the activity in isolation — it does not mean an occupation that performs it is being automated, since every job blends many activities.

Detailed work activities

The more granular units of work O*NET groups under this activity, ordered by how many occupations perform them.

Occupations that perform this activity

Ranked by how many of the occupation's tasks map to this activity.

Occupation Tasks
Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials 11
Food Batchmakers 9
Print Binding and Finishing Workers 7
Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators 6
Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 5
Prepress Technicians and Workers 5
Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 4
Chemical Plant and System Operators 3
Conveyor Operators and Tenders 3
Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers 3
Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders 3
Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 3
Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining 3
Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 3
Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 3
Potters, Manufacturing 3
Recycling and Reclamation Workers 3
Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 3
Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers 2
Bakers 2
Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders 2
Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers 2
Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 2
Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 2
Helpers--Production Workers 2
Machine Feeders and Offbearers 2
Machinists 2
Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 2
Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 2
Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators 2
Agricultural Equipment Operators 1
Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians 1
Art Therapists 1
Automotive Engineering Technicians 1
Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment 1
Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders 1
Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders 1
Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 1
Electro-Mechanical and Mechatronics Technologists and Technicians 1
Electromechanical Equipment Assemblers 1

Showing 40 of 71 occupations.

Exposure quadrant: AI task-overlap percentile vs Median pay AI task-overlap (horizontal) versus median pay (vertical), each as a percentile across all scored occupations, for 39 occupations in occupations that perform Operate industrial processing or production equipment.. Overlap measures shared tasks with AI, not automation. Lower overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · lower pay Lower overlap · lower pay Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining Recycling and Reclamation Workers Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders Agricultural Equipment Operators Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic Bakers Art Therapists Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators Electro-Mechanical and Mechatronics Technologists and Technicians Prepress Technicians and Workers AI task-overlap percentile → ↑ Median pay
Occupations that perform Operate industrial processing or production equipment., by AI task-overlap and median pay

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Operate industrial processing or production equipment." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/activities/operate-industrial-processing-or-production-equipment

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Operate industrial processing or production equipment. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/activities/operate-industrial-processing-or-production-equipment

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-operate-industrial-processing-or-production-equipment,
  title  = {Operate industrial processing or production equipment},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/activities/operate-industrial-processing-or-production-equipment}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.