Operate or tend furnaces, such as gas, oil, coal, electric-arc or electric induction, open-hearth, or oxygen furnaces, to melt and refine metal before casting or to produce specified types of steel.
U.S. Workers
20,330
Median Salary
$55,770
10-Year Growth
-2.3%
Annual Openings
2,000
Typical entry: High school diploma or equivalent
15 of 15 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.
Regulate supplies of fuel and air, or control flow of electric current and water coolant to heat furnaces and adjust temperatures.
AI: Fully automatable - Advanced control systems and AI can regulate fuel, air, electrical flow, and coolant via sensors and actuators to maintain furnace temperatures.
Weigh materials to be charged into furnaces, using scales.
AI: Fully automatable - Automated scales and integrated control systems allow AI to fully perform weighing of materials to be charged into furnaces.
Record production data, and maintain production logs.
AI: Fully automatable - Sensors, MES/ERP systems, and AI can automatically record production data and maintain production logs.
Observe air and temperature gauges or metal color and fluidity, and turn fuel valves or adjust controls to maintain required temperatures.
AI: Fully automatable - Vision systems and temperature/air sensors combined with closed-loop control let AI observe gauges, infer metal color/fluidity, and adjust valves or controls.
Operate controls to move or discharge metal workpieces from furnaces.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can operate controls to move or discharge workpieces when integrated with industrial actuators, robots, and automated handling systems.
Observe operations inside furnaces, using television screens, to ensure that problems do not occur.
AI: Fully automatable - AI-powered vision systems can monitor furnace camera feeds and detect anomalies in real time, enabling automated surveillance and alerting.
Sprinkle chemicals over molten metal to bring impurities to the surface.
AI: Fully automatable - Automated dosing and process-control systems, guided by sensors and AI models, can add chemicals to molten metal to promote impurity floatation.
Draw smelted metal samples from furnaces or kettles for analysis, and calculate types and amounts of materials needed to ensure that materials meet specifications.
AI: Partial - AI can analyze samples and compute material additions to meet specs, but physically drawing smelted metal samples typically still requires humans or specialized robotic sampling equipment.
Prepare material to load into furnaces, including cleaning, crushing, or applying chemicals, by using crushing machines, shovels, rakes, or sprayers.
AI: Partial - Crushing, cleaning, and chemical application can be mechanized and AI-controlled, but full end-to-end material preparation often still involves manual steps or human oversight.
Inspect furnaces and equipment to locate defects and wear.
AI: Partial - Computer vision and sensor analytics can detect many surface defects and wear, but complex, tactile, or context-dependent inspections still often require human judgment.
Drain, transfer, or remove molten metal from furnaces, and place it into molds, using hoists, pumps, or ladles.
AI: Partial - While automated pouring systems exist, draining and transferring molten metal remain hazardous, high-precision tasks that are typically semi-automated and require human oversight and specialized equipment.
Remove impurities from the surface of molten metal, using strainers.
AI: Partial - Skimming impurities with strainers requires high‑temperature dexterous manipulation and situational judgment—robots and AI can assist but full reliable automation across varied conditions is limited as of 2025.
Kindle fires, and shovel fuel and other materials into furnaces or onto conveyors by hand, with hoists, or by directing crane operators.
AI: Partial - Conveyors and feeders can be automated, but kindling fires and manual shoveling are physical tasks that AI alone cannot perform without robotic hardware and human supervision.
Direct work crews in the cleaning and repair of furnace walls and flooring.
AI: Partial - Directing work crews involves complex human leadership, ad hoc decisions, and safety communication that AI can support but not fully replace in 2025.
Scrape accumulations of metal oxides from floors, molds, and crucibles, and sift and store them for reclamation.
AI: Partial - Scraping and reclaiming oxide accumulations is a variable, contact‑intensive task where robotics can partially automate work but lacks full reliability in complex, changing environments.