Set up, operate, or tend machines to saw, cut, shear, slit, punch, crimp, notch, bend, or straighten metal or plastic material.

“Set up, operate, or tend machines to saw, cut, shear, slit, punch, crimp, notch, bend, or straighten metal or plastic material.” is a core task performed by Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic. Among the occupation's 32 rated tasks, workers place it 26th by importance (#7 most important). About 86% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Operate cutting or grinding equipment. in Controlling Machines and Processes

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E0. No direct exposure — current language models give little or no time savings on this task.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.00. Automation potential label: T0.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Measure completed workpieces to verify conformance to specifications, using micrometers, gauges, calipers, templates, or rulers. · importance 4.7
• Examine completed workpieces for defects, such as chipped edges or marred surfaces and sort defective pieces according to types of flaws. · importance 4.6
• Lubricate workpieces with oil. · importance 4.5
• Read work orders or production schedules to determine specifications, such as materials to be used, locations of cutting lines, or dimensions and tolerances. · importance 4.5
• Install, align, and lock specified punches, dies, cutting blades, or other fixtures in rams or beds of machines, using gauges, templates, feelers, shims, and hand tools. · importance 4.5
• Start machines, monitor their operations, and record operational data. · importance 4.5
• Adjust ram strokes of presses to specified lengths, using hand tools. · importance 4.4
• Position, align, and secure workpieces against fixtures or stops on machine beds or on dies. · importance 4.3
• Load workpieces, plastic material, or chemical solutions into machines. · importance 4.2
• Test and adjust machine speeds or actions, according to product specifications, using gauges and hand tools. · importance 4.2
• Set stops on machine beds, change dies, and adjust components, such as rams or power presses, when making multiple or successive passes. · importance 4.2
• Clean and lubricate machines. · importance 4.1
• Position guides, stops, holding blocks, or other fixtures to secure and direct workpieces, using hand tools and measuring devices. · importance 4.0
• Turn controls to set cutting speeds, feed rates, or table angles for specified operations. · importance 4.0

See all tasks on the Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic page.

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.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

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

@misc{singulariki-task-10114,
  title  = {Set up, operate, or tend machines to saw, cut, shear, slit, punch, crimp, notch, bend, or straighten metal or plastic material.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-10114}
}