Community Sentiment
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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic?
Task-level automation exposure for Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic: 12 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
23%
weighted task index
12 of 12 tasks scored
Median Salary
$49,030 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Low
8,930 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
-17.2%
employment change
600 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 32 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$35,630 – $69,210
Highest medians
Oregon $69,210
Oklahoma $61,720
Michigan $61,620
Nebraska $60,460
Wisconsin $60,310
Lowest medians
New Jersey $35,630
Kentucky $36,110
West Virginia $37,390
Texas $37,390
Arkansas $38,120
State figures come from the 51-4022 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 23%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 71%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 7%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 0%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 27/100
Moderate
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
12 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 10%
1 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 9%
1 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 80%
10 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Constituent Tasks
#10080 · Core · 21% automatable
Start machines to produce sample workpieces, and observe operations to detect machine malfunctions and to verify that machine setups conform to specifications.
physical manipulation — Operating production equipment physically on site
Conduct test runs of production equipment. Operate metal or plastic forming equipment.
#10079 · Core · 66% automatable
Read work orders or blueprints to determine specified tolerances and sequences of operations for machine setup.
visual inspection — Blueprint setup reading partial, human confirms
Study blueprints or other instructions to determine equipment setup requirements.
#10083 · Core · 55% automatable
Confer with other workers about machine setups and operational specifications.
interpersonal — Colleague information exchange is relational, contextual
Exchange information with colleagues.
#10078 · Core · 28% automatable
Measure and inspect machined parts to ensure conformance to product specifications.
physical manipulation — Hands-on dimensional measurement of workpieces
Measure dimensions of completed products or workpieces to verify conformance to specifications.
#10082 · Core · 12% automatable
Turn handles or knobs to set pressures and depths of ram strokes and to synchronize machine operations.
physical manipulation — Metal and plastic forming equipment run by hand
Operate metal or plastic forming equipment.
#10085 · Core · 12% automatable
Set up, operate, or tend presses and forging machines to perform hot or cold forging by flattening, straightening, bending, cutting, piercing, or other operations to taper, shape, or form metal.
physical manipulation — Metal and plastic forming equipment run by hand
Operate metal or plastic forming equipment. Operate cutting equipment.
#10089 · Core · 8% automatable
Trim and compress finished forgings to specified tolerances.
physical manipulation — Manual trimming of workpieces
Trim excess material from workpieces.
#10087 · Supplemental · 7% automatable
Install, adjust, and remove dies, synchronizing cams, forging hammers, and stop guides, using overhead cranes or other hoisting devices, and hand tools.
physical manipulation — Removing parts from equipment is hands-on
Mount attachments or tools onto production equipment. Remove accessories, tools, or other parts from equipment.
#10081 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Remove dies from machines when production runs are finished.
physical manipulation — Removing parts from equipment is hands-on
Remove accessories, tools, or other parts from equipment.
#10088 · Supplemental · 22% automatable
Select, align, and bolt positioning fixtures, stops, and specified dies to rams and anvils, forging rolls, or presses and hammers.
decision support — Equipment selection against specs; human verifies fit
Select production equipment according to product specifications. Mount attachments or tools onto production equipment. Set equipment guides, stops, spacers, or other fixtures.
#10084 · Supplemental · 10% automatable
Repair, maintain, and replace parts on dies.
physical manipulation — Hands-on removal and fitting of worn components
Replace worn equipment components. Repair production equipment or tools. Maintain production or processing equipment.
#10086 · Supplemental · 4% automatable
Position and move metal wires or workpieces through a series of dies that compress and shape stock to form die impressions.
physical manipulation — Maneuvering workpieces needs hands-on control
Maneuver workpieces in equipment during production.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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