Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks

Distribute production schedules or work orders to departments.

AI: Fully automatable - Software and AI-driven ERP/MES systems can automatically generate and distribute production schedules or work orders to the appropriate departments.

Requisition and maintain inventories of materials or supplies necessary to meet production demands.

AI: Fully automatable - Inventory management and procurement systems (augmented by AI) can autonomously requisition and maintain stock levels using sensors, reorder rules, and automated purchasing workflows.

Record production data, including volume produced, consumption of raw materials, or quality control measures.

AI: Fully automatable - Sensors, MES, and ERP integrations can automatically capture and record production volumes, raw material consumption, and quality control measures without human intervention.

Calculate figures, such as required amounts of labor or materials, manufacturing costs, or wages, using pricing schedules, adding machines, calculators, or computers.

AI: Fully automatable - Deterministic calculations from pricing schedules and structured inputs can be fully automated by software/ML pipelines and RPA integrated with data sources.

Compile information, such as production rates and progress, materials inventories, materials used, or customer information, so that status reports can be completed.

AI: Fully automatable - Aggregating production rates, inventories, and customer data into status reports can be fully automated through integrations, ETL, and LLM summarization.

Compile and prepare documentation related to production sequences, transportation, personnel schedules, or purchase, maintenance, or repair orders.

AI: Fully automatable - Compiling and preparing production/transportation/personnel documentation from structured schedules and ERP data is routinely automated with templates and document-generation systems.

Maintain files, such as maintenance records, bills of lading, or cost reports.

AI: Fully automatable - Maintaining records (maintenance, bills of lading, cost reports) can be fully automated using document management, OCR, and workflow/RPA tools tied to enterprise systems.

Review documents, such as production schedules, work orders, or staffing tables, to determine personnel or materials requirements or material priorities.

AI: Partial - AI can analyze schedules, work orders, and staffing tables to propose personnel and materials requirements or priorities, but human judgment is often needed for contextual exceptions and trade-offs.

Arrange for delivery, assembly, or distribution of supplies or parts to expedite flow of materials and meet production schedules.

AI: Partial - Logistics and scheduling software can plan and coordinate deliveries and distributions, but arranging on-the-ground assembly, ad hoc adjustments, and exception handling typically require human intervention.

Confer with department supervisors or other personnel to assess progress and discuss needed changes.

AI: Partial - AI can produce progress metrics and facilitate communications, but it cannot fully replace the nuanced, interpersonal assessment and negotiation performed by supervisors in many situations.

Revise production schedules when required due to design changes, labor or material shortages, backlogs, or other interruptions, collaborating with management, marketing, sales, production, or engineering.

AI: Partial - AI can detect disruptions and propose revised production schedules and alternatives, yet collaborative negotiation and final approval across management, sales, and engineering usually require human involvement.

Confer with establishment personnel, vendors, or customers to coordinate production or shipping activities and to resolve complaints or eliminate delays.

AI: Partial - Automated systems and chatbots can handle routine coordination and simple complaint resolution, but complex coordination, conflict resolution, and relationship management still need human actors.

Examine documents, materials, or products and monitor work processes to assess completeness, accuracy, and conformance to standards and specifications.

AI: Partial - Computer vision and automated QA can inspect many documents, materials, and processes for conformance, but nuanced judgments and complex nonconformities often require human expertise.

Contact suppliers to verify shipment details.

AI: Partial - Contacting suppliers can be largely automated via email, EDI, or chatbots, but real-time phone negotiation, ambiguous responses, and exception handling still require human intervention.

Plan production commitments or timetables for business units, specific programs, or jobs, using sales forecasts.

AI: Partial - Production planning can be assisted and partially automated with optimization algorithms and forecast-driven schedulers, but complex trade-offs, evolving constraints, and cross-functional decisions need human oversight.

Establish and prepare product construction directions and locations and information on required tools, materials, equipment, numbers of workers needed, and cost projections.

AI: Partial - Generating construction directions, tooling lists, labor estimates and cost projections can be produced from BOMs and historical data, yet custom configurations and validation typically require human review.

Provide documentation and information to account for delays, difficulties, or changes to cost estimates.

AI: Partial - Assembling documentation for delays or cost changes can be automated for routine cases by extracting logs and invoices, but root-cause analysis and dispute resolution often need human judgment.