Start machines and set controls to regulate vacuum, air pressure, sizing rings, and temperature, and to synchronize speed of extrusion.

“Start machines and set controls to regulate vacuum, air pressure, sizing rings, and temperature, and to synchronize speed of extrusion.” is a core task performed by Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic. Among the occupation's 16 rated tasks, workers place it 14th by importance (#3 most important). About 76% 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.

• Adjust equipment to ensure adequate performance. in Handling and Moving Objects
• Operate industrial processing or production 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 and examine extruded products to locate defects and to check for conformance to specifications, adjusting controls as necessary to alter products. · importance 4.6
• Determine setup procedures and select machine dies and parts, according to specifications. · importance 4.3
• Reel extruded products into rolls of specified lengths and weights. · importance 4.3
• Install dies, machine screws, and sizing rings on machines that extrude thermoplastic or metal materials. · importance 4.2
• Change dies on extruding machines, according to production line changes. · importance 4.1
• Clean work areas. · importance 4.0
• Weigh and mix pelletized, granular, or powdered thermoplastic materials and coloring pigments. · importance 4.0
• Test physical properties of products with testing devices such as acid-bath testers, burst testers, and impact testers. · importance 4.0
• Load machine hoppers with mixed materials, using augers, or stuff rolls of plastic dough into machine cylinders. · importance 3.9
• Troubleshoot, maintain, and make minor repairs to equipment. · importance 3.7
• Maintain an inventory of materials. · importance 3.7
• Replace worn dies when products vary from specifications. · importance 3.7
• Adjust controls to draw or press metal into specified shapes and diameters. · importance 3.7
• Select nozzles, spacers, and wire guides, according to diameters and lengths of rods. · importance 3.4

See all tasks on the Extruding and Drawing 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-8477,
  title  = {Start machines and set controls to regulate vacuum, air pressure, sizing rings, and temperature, and to synchronize speed of extrusion.},
  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-8477}
}