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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Industrial Production Managers?
Task-level automation exposure for Industrial Production Managers: 21 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
52%
weighted task index
21 of 21 tasks scored
Median Salary
$126,060 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
High
246,250 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+2.6%
employment change
17,000 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 52 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$100,470 – $153,000
Highest medians
Delaware $153,000
Wyoming $151,490
Massachusetts $148,050
New Jersey $147,260
New Hampshire $146,590
Lowest medians
Guam $100,470
Iowa $106,510
Nebraska $107,200
Idaho $107,340
South Dakota $107,490
State figures come from the 11-3051 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 52%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 0%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 67%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 16%
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 17/100
Low
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
21 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) 31%
6 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 50%
11 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 19%
4 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
#39 · Core · 52% automatable
Set and monitor product standards, examining samples of raw products or directing testing during processing, to ensure finished products are of prescribed quality.
decision support — AI drafts strategies; human owns operational judgment
Evaluate quality of materials or products. Develop operating strategies, plans, or procedures.
#32 · Core · 33% automatable
Direct or coordinate production, processing, distribution, or marketing activities of industrial organizations.
interpersonal — Directing organizational operations carries accountability
Direct sales, marketing, or customer service activities. Direct organizational operations, projects, or services.
#34 · Core · 72% automatable
Review processing schedules or production orders to make decisions concerning inventory requirements, staffing requirements, work procedures, or duty assignments, considering budgetary limitations and time constraints.
data analysis — Operational data analysis; manager owns decisions
Analyze data to inform operational decisions or activities.
#35 · Core · 53% automatable
Review operations and confer with technical or administrative staff to resolve production or processing problems.
data analysis — Procedure conformance monitoring is largely document and data based
Monitor organizational procedures to ensure proper functioning. Confer with organizational members to accomplish work activities.
#36 · Core · 43% automatable
Hire, train, evaluate, or discharge staff or resolve personnel grievances.
decision support — Performance review aided; accountability and context human
Evaluate employee performance. Conduct employee training programs. Hire personnel.
#40 · Core · 55% automatable
Develop or implement production tracking or quality control systems, analyzing production, quality control, maintenance, or other operational reports to detect production problems.
data analysis — Operational data analysis; manager owns decisions
Analyze data to inform operational decisions or activities. Implement organizational process or policy changes. Develop organizational methods or procedures.
#38 · Core · 80% automatable
Prepare and maintain production reports or personnel records.
text generation — Status/progress reports from tracked data
Maintain personnel records. Prepare operational progress or status reports.
#41 · Core · 53% automatable
Review plans and confer with research or support staff to develop new products or processes.
decision support — Specs drafted; human validates feasibility
Develop specifications for new products or processes. Confer with organizational members to accomplish work activities.
#33 · Core · 51% automatable
Develop budgets or approve expenditures for supplies, materials, or human resources, ensuring that materials, labor, or equipment are used efficiently to meet production targets.
data analysis — Budget drafting from assumptions; human validates assumptions
Approve expenditures. Prepare operational budgets.
#44 · Core · 80% automatable
Maintain current knowledge of the quality control field, relying on current literature pertaining to materials use, technological advances, or statistical studies.
information retrieval — AI summarizes developments; human retains expertise
Maintain knowledge of current developments in area of expertise.
#43 · Core · 43% automatable
Coordinate or recommend procedures for facility or equipment maintenance or modification, including the replacement of machines.
decision support — Drafts policy options; political judgment owned by human
Direct facility maintenance or repair activities. Recommend organizational process or policy changes.
#37 · Core · 33% automatable
Initiate or coordinate inventory or cost control programs.
interpersonal — Managing control systems needs human accountability
Manage control system activities in organizations.
#45 · Supplemental · 35% automatable
Negotiate materials prices with suppliers.
interpersonal — Negotiation needs authority and live give-and-take
Negotiate sales or lease agreements for products or services.
#21332 · Core · 42% automatable
Conduct site audits to ensure adherence to safety and environmental regulations.
decision support — Audit needs site inspection and evidence gathering
Conduct environmental audits.
#21333 · Core · 38% automatable
Develop or enforce procedures for normal operation of manufacturing systems.
decision support — AI models process systems; engineer validates feasibility
Design industrial processing systems. Direct operational or production activities.
#21334 · Core · 10% automatable
Implement operational and emergency procedures.
situated mobility — Emergency response needs physical action in the world
Respond to emergencies to provide assistance.
#21335 · Core · 78% automatable
Maintain records to demonstrate compliance with safety and environmental laws, regulations, or policies.
text generation — Maintain compliance docs; human verifies currency
Maintain regulatory or compliance documentation.
#21336 · Core · 78% automatable
Monitor permit requirements for updates.
information retrieval — AI monitors news and events affecting operations
Monitor external affairs or events affecting business operations.
#21337 · Core · 40% automatable
Optimize operational costs and productivity consistent with safety and environmental rules and regulations.
decision support — Process improvements need physical/organizational execution
Implement design or process improvements.
#21338 · Core · 80% automatable
Prepare reports on operations and system productivity or efficiency.
text generation — Generate operational reports from structured data
Prepare operational reports.
#21339 · Core · 30% automatable
Supervise subordinate employees.
interpersonal — Employee supervision is accountability-bearing human work
Supervise employees.
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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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