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Precision Production

Field of study · CIP 2020

Precision Production is one of the fields of study in the U.S. Department of Education's Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP). It contains 17 detailed programs and, through the official CIP–SOC crosswalk, connects to 35 occupations employing about 2,012,750 workers, with a median wage of $48,310. The crosswalk shows which jobs a field of study is related to — not a guarantee of entry.

What the occupations pay

Median annual wage across the occupations this field of study leads to, from BLS OEWS (national, cross-industry, May 2024). The middle range is the 25th–75th percentile of those occupation medians — it describes the field, not any one job or graduate.

Median occupation wage $48,310
Middle range (p25–p75) $45,645 – $52,185
Occupations with wage data 35 of 35

AI exposure of this field of study

Two published studies estimate how exposed each occupation is to today's AI. The OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" study rates the share of an occupation's tasks a large language model (with tools) could speed up by half or more; averaged across the occupations this field of study leads to it is 8% — 1st percentile of all fields of study. The independent Felten/Raj/Seamans AI Occupational Exposure index averages -1.01 here.

Computed across the 33 of 35 occupations this field leads to that carry a published exposure score.

The most-exposed fields of study lead to knowledge, language and analytical work; the least-exposed lead to physical trades and hands-on production. Exposure measures where AI could assist tasks, not a prediction that these jobs will be automated; high exposure most often means augmentation. Bands are comparable across the cluster, education, job-zone and field-of-study tiers (same two studies, same percentile method).

Where this field of study leads

The largest occupations connected to this field by the CIP–SOC crosswalk, by employment. Wage and employment describe the occupation, not an individual.

Occupation Workers Median pay
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers 424,040 $51,000
Machinists 298,790 $56,150
Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators 176,950 $49,970
Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 174,430 $45,590
Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 129,850 $46,060
Sheet Metal Workers 117,470 $60,850
Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters 79,540 $46,020
Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 70,110 $45,190
Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 65,700 $46,980
Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing 63,350 $40,440
Tool and Die Makers 55,130 $63,180
Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters 53,380 $49,900
Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood 43,140 $39,950
Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 36,290 $47,060
Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers 28,230 $65,670
Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 22,350 $48,630
Upholsterers 20,990 $46,190
Metal Workers and Plastic Workers, All Other 20,270 $42,750
Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 18,970 $48,620
Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 14,590 $47,450
Furniture Finishers 14,230 $42,530
Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 13,810 $48,310
Foundry Mold and Coremakers 12,720 $45,700
Boilermakers 10,170 $73,340
Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 8,760 $49,240
Shoe and Leather Workers and Repairers 7,640 $35,950
Woodworkers, All Other 6,590 $41,220
Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners 5,730 $48,970
Layout Workers, Metal and Plastic 5,610 $61,870
Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 5,310 $46,630
Shoe Machine Operators and Tenders 3,270 $38,160
Model Makers, Metal and Plastic 3,230 $62,700
Patternmakers, Metal and Plastic 1,570 $54,540
Model Makers, Wood 360 $51,850
Patternmakers, Wood 180 $52,520

Programs in this field

A sample of the detailed CIP programs within this family. The full family contains 17 programs.

  • 48.0801 Boilermaking/Boilermaker
  • 48.0703 Cabinetmaking and Millwork
  • 48.0510 Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) Machinist Technology/CNC Machinist
  • 48.0702 Furniture Design and Manufacturing
  • 48.0509 Ironworking/Ironworker
  • 48.0503 Machine Shop Technology/Assistant
  • 48.0501 Machine Tool Technology/Machinist
  • 48.0511 Metal Fabricator
  • 48.0599 Precision Metal Working, Other
  • 48.0506 Sheet Metal Technology/Sheetworking
  • 48.0304 Shoe, Boot and Leather Repair
  • 48.0507 Tool and Die Technology/Technician
  • 48.0303 Upholstery/Upholsterer
  • 48.0508 Welding Technology/Welder
  • 48.0704 Wooden Boatbuilding Technology/Technician
  • 48.0701 Woodworking, General
  • 48.0799 Woodworking, Other

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 3, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Precision Production." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; CIP-2020 2020; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/programs/precision-production

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Precision Production. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/programs/precision-production

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-precision-production,
  title  = {Precision Production},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; CIP-2020 2020; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/programs/precision-production}
}

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