Operate or tend food or tobacco roasting, baking, or drying equipment, including hearth ovens, kiln driers, roasters, char kilns, and vacuum drying equipment.
U.S. Workers
19,500
Median Salary
$42,730
10-Year Growth
+0.6%
Annual Openings
2,400
Typical entry: No formal educational credential
20 of 20 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Take product samples during or after processing for laboratory analyses.
AI: Fully automatable - Automated sampling systems and robotic samplers integrated with process control and AI can reliably take and log product samples for lab analysis.
Set temperature and time controls, light ovens, burners, driers, or roasters, and start equipment, such as conveyors, cylinders, blowers, driers, or pumps.
AI: Fully automatable - Setting timers, temperatures and starting equipment is routinely automated via PLCs and AI/controls and can be fully automated and integrated.
Observe flow of materials and listen for machine malfunctions, such as jamming or spillage, and notify supervisors if corrective actions fail.
AI: Fully automatable - Vision and acoustic sensors with anomaly detection can observe material flow and machine malfunctions and automatically alert supervisors when automatic corrective measures fail.
Observe temperature, humidity, pressure gauges, and product samples and adjust controls, such as thermostats and valves, to maintain prescribed operating conditions for specific stages.
AI: Fully automatable - Monitoring gauges and adjusting thermostats or valves to maintain setpoints is classic control-system work that AI and automated controllers can perform fully.
Test products for moisture content, using moisture meters.
AI: Fully automatable - Moisture measurement is routinely automated with in-line moisture sensors and automated meters that can be read and controlled by AI systems.
Record production data, such as weight and amount of product processed, type of product, and time and temperature of processing.
AI: Fully automatable - Automatic logging of weights, quantities, product type, times and temperatures is standard industrial automation and can be fully handled by AI and factory systems.
Weigh or measure products, using scale hoppers or scale conveyors.
AI: Fully automatable - Weighing via scale hoppers and conveyor-integrated scales is well-established automation that AI systems can fully operate and record.
Signal coworkers to synchronize flow of materials.
AI: Fully automatable - Signaling and synchronizing material flow can be fully automated using sensors, networked controls, lights/alarms, and coordinated control logic.
Start conveyors to move roasted grain to cooling pans and agitate grain with rakes as blowers force air through perforated bottoms of pans.
AI: Fully automatable - Conveyor start/stop functions and mechanical agitation of grain are standard process-control tasks that are fully automatable with existing control systems and actuators.
Open valves, gates, or chutes or use shovels to load or remove products from ovens or other equipment.
AI: Fully automatable - Opening valves/gates and automated loading/unloading can be handled by actuated hardware and robots under AI/PLC control and are widely implemented.
Read work orders to determine quantities and types of products to be baked, dried, or roasted.
AI: Fully automatable - Document understanding models and integrated production planning systems can read work orders and determine required quantities and product types reliably.
Clean equipment with steam, hot water, and hoses.
AI: Fully automatable - Clean-in-place (CIP) systems and automated steam/hot-water cleaning equipment are standard and can be scheduled and controlled by AI.
Smooth out products in bins, pans, trays, or conveyors, using rakes or shovels.
AI: Fully automatable - Smoothing and leveling product flow can be automated using vibratory feeders, actuated spreaders, or robotic rakes integrated into process control.
Push racks or carts to transfer products to storage, cooling stations, or the next stage of processing.
AI: Fully automatable - Autonomous mobile robots and automated guided vehicles already move racks and carts in many facilities and can perform this task under AI coordination.
Dump sugar dust from collectors into melting tanks and add water to reclaim sugar lost during processing.
AI: Fully automatable - Dumping collected dust and dosing water can be automated with conveyors, valves, and dosing pumps controlled by process automation and AI.
Observe, feel, taste, or otherwise examine products during and after processing to ensure conformance to standards.
AI: Partial - AI can perform visual and sensor-based inspections and some chemical analyses but cannot fully replicate human taste and complex tactile judgments across diverse products.
Clear or dislodge blockages in bins, screens, or other equipment, using poles, brushes, or mallets.
AI: Partial - Some blockage-mitigation methods (vibration, air jets, actuated clearing tools) can be automated, but unpredictable, forceful manual clearing in confined spaces still often requires humans.
Operate or tend equipment that roasts, bakes, dries, or cures food items such as cocoa and coffee beans, grains, nuts, and bakery products.
AI: Partial - While automated systems can run many roasting/baking/drying processes, the varied physical tending, exceptions, and nuanced decisions for different products mean AI only partially automates this task.
Install equipment, such as spray units, cutting blades, or screens, using hand tools.
AI: Partial - Installation of equipment often requires fine manual dexterity, judgment, and ad hoc decisions that robotics/AI can assist but not fully replace in many cases as of 2025.
Fill or remove product from trays, carts, hoppers, or equipment, using scoops, peels, or shovels, or by hand.
AI: Partial - Filling and removing product with scoops, peels or by hand involves varied, dexterous manipulation and situational adaptability that current robotics and AI can only partially perform.