Home / Tasks / Feed materials or products into or through equipment
In 7 of the 21 jobs that do this, AI or robots already show up on it, most often as robots doing it. In the other 14, there's no evidence yet. Jobs spend a median of 23m of an 8-hour shift on it, and about 1.4 million U.S. workers hold these jobs.
14No evidence yet
7Robots
Every job that does this
Each job words the task its own way. Minutes are that job's estimate for a typical shift; the label is the evidence for that job's version.
| Job and its version of the task | Per shift | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Textile Knitting and Weaving Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersThread yarn, thread, and fabric through guides, needles, and rollers of machines for weaving, knitting, or other processing. | 56m | No evidence yet |
| Textile Winding, Twisting, and Drawing Out Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersThread yarn, thread, or fabric through guides, needles, and rollers of machines. | 53m | No evidence yet |
| Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersFeed stock into cutting machines, onto conveyors, or under cutting blades, by threading, guiding, pushing, or turning handwheels. | 49m | No evidence yet |
| Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersPlace rolls of paper or cardboard on machine feed tracks, and thread paper through gluing, coating, and slitting rollers. | 43m | Robots |
| Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersFeed stock through feed mechanisms or conveyors into planing, shaping, boring, mortising, or sanding machines to produce desired components. | 35m | No evidence yet |
| Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and TendersSupply materials to spindles, conveyors, hoppers, or other feeding devices and unload packaged product. | 31m | No evidence yet |
| Welding, Soldering, and Brazing Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersLoad or feed workpieces into welding machines to join or bond components. | 30m | Robots |
| Sewing Machine OperatorsPlace spools of thread, cord, or other materials on spindles, insert bobbins, and thread ends through machine guides and components. | 26m | No evidence yet |
| Milling and Planing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and PlasticMove cutters or material manually or by turning handwheels, or engage automatic feeding mechanisms to mill workpieces to specifications. | 24m | Robots |
| Printing Press OperatorsFeed paper through press cylinders and adjust feed and tension controls. | 24m | Robots |
| Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and PlasticThread or feed sheets or rods through rolling mechanisms, or start and control mechanisms that automatically feed steel into rollers. | 23m | No evidence yet |
| Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and PlasticMove toolholders manually or by turning handwheels, or engage automatic feeding mechanisms to feed tools to and along workpieces. | 23m | Robots |
| Plating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and PlasticPosition and feed materials into processing machines, by hand or by using automated equipment. | 23m | No evidence yet |
| Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersFeed products into machines by hand or conveyor. | 18m | Robots |
| Shoe Machine Operators and TendersDraw thread through machine guide slots, needles, and presser feet in preparation for stitching, or load rolls of wire through machine axles. | 12m | No evidence yet |
| Textile Cutting Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersThread yarn, thread, or fabric through guides, needles, and rollers of machines. | 12m | No evidence yet |
| Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and PlasticThread and hand-feed materials through machine cutters or abraders. | 12m | No evidence yet |
| Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersThread or feed items or products through or around machine rollers and dryers. | 12m | No evidence yet |
| Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and TendersThread ends of cloth or twine through specified sections of equipment prior to processing. | 12m | No evidence yet |
| Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and TendersStart conveyors to move roasted grain to cooling pans and agitate grain with rakes as blowers force air through perforated bottoms of pans. | 6m | Robots |
| Tool and Die MakersSet pyrometer controls of heat-treating furnaces and feed or place parts, tools, or assemblies into furnaces to harden. | 6m | No evidence yet |
How to read this
This task type comes from O*NET's detailed work activities, which link similar tasks across jobs. A label applies to one job's version of the task: AI use comes from real AI conversations (Anthropic Economic Index) and robot evidence from deployments in real workplaces. "No evidence yet" may just mean the task is rare in the data. How we keep time.
See all 250 shared tasks, or find any job on the big clock.