Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders

Operate or tend heating equipment other than basic metal, plastic, or food processing equipment. Includes activities such as annealing glass, drying lumber, curing rubber, removing moisture from materials, or boiling soap.

The occupation "Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders" has an automation risk of 51.1%, which is close to its base risk of 51.5%. This moderate risk level reflects the balance between tasks that can be easily automated and those still dependent on manual intervention. The core activities of this occupation involve the control and supervision of high-temperature industrial equipment, processes that are hazardous but also increasingly manageable by modern automated systems and remote monitoring technologies. Companies are incentivized to automate both for safety and efficiency, which nudges the overall risk upward. Nonetheless, not all tasks within this occupation are equally susceptible to automation, due to varying skill requirements and situational challenges that arise on the job. Tasks that are most automatable in this field are those focused on routine monitoring and standardized control adjustments. For example, "Monitor equipment operation, gauges, and panel lights to detect deviations from standards" is straightforward to automate using digital sensors, automated diagnostics, and alert systems. Likewise, "Confer with supervisors or other equipment operators to report equipment malfunctions or to resolve production problems" can be partially automated via data-rich reporting dashboards and automated communication tools. The operation of controls — "Press and adjust controls to activate, set, and regulate equipment according to specifications" — is quickly being taken over by computer-controlled systems, which can execute precise adjustments more rapidly and reliably than humans, further pushing automation feasibility in these areas. However, certain tasks remain relatively resistant to automation, anchoring the risk at a moderate level. Work such as "Clean, lubricate, and adjust equipment, using scrapers, solvents, air hoses, oil, and hand tools" requires physical dexterity and adaptability, often reacting to unique or unexpected maintenance needs that robots still struggle to handle cost-effectively. The replacement of worn or defective parts using hand tools also relies on human judgment and tactile feedback. Additionally, "Feeding fuel such as coal and coke into fireboxes or onto conveyors, and removing ashes from furnaces using shovels and buckets" is manual labor that is not only physically complex but also variable depending on the specific plant setup. These bottleneck tasks demand a degree of originality and real-time problem-solving, although their overall skill rating in originality is relatively low (2.0% and 1.1%), indicating incremental — not transformative — barriers to automation. This balance between automatable and resistant tasks reflects the occupation’s mid-level automation risk.