Set up, operate, or tend continuous flow or vat-type equipment; filter presses; shaker screens; centrifuges; condenser tubes; precipitating, fermenting, or evaporating tanks; scrubbing towers; or batch stills. These machines extract, sort, or separate liquids, gases, or solids from other materials to recover a refined product. Includes dairy processing equipment operators.
U.S. Workers
54,200
Median Salary
$49,500
10-Year Growth
-4.3%
Annual Openings
5,400
Typical entry: High school diploma or equivalent
21 of 21 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.
Dump, pour, or load specified amounts of refined or unrefined materials into equipment or containers for further processing or storage.
AI: Fully automatable - Automated material handling systems and robots can accurately dump, pour, and load specified amounts for many industrial processes today.
Monitor material flow or instruments such as temperature or pressure gauges, indicators, or meters to ensure optimal processing conditions.
AI: Fully automatable - Continuous monitoring of flows and instruments with closed‑loop control and anomaly detection is a well‑established capability of modern AI/SCADA systems.
Turn valves or move controls to admit, drain, separate, filter, clarify, mix, or transfer materials.
AI: Fully automatable - Valve actuation and control for admitting, draining, transferring, and mixing materials are commonly automated with actuators and control systems under AI/PLC control.
Set up or adjust machine controls to regulate conditions such as material flow, temperature, or pressure.
AI: Fully automatable - Because industrial control systems and AI-driven controllers (e.g., MPC and automated PID tuning) already automate setup and adjustment of flow, temperature, and pressure in many plants.
Start agitators, shakers, conveyors, pumps, or centrifuge machines.
AI: Fully automatable - Because starting and stopping agitators, conveyors, pumps, and centrifuges is routinely handled by PLCs and automated control systems that AI can schedule or trigger.
Test samples to determine viscosity, acidity, specific gravity, or degree of concentration, using test equipment such as viscometers, pH meters, or hydrometers.
AI: Fully automatable - Automated analytical instruments and lab robotics can perform viscometry, pH, and density testing under AI-managed workflows.
Measure or weigh materials to be refined, mixed, transferred, stored, or otherwise processed.
AI: Fully automatable - Routine weighing and measuring are already handled by integrated scales, sensors, and control systems that AI can fully orchestrate.
Turn valves to pump sterilizing solutions or rinse water through pipes or equipment or to spray vats with atomizers.
AI: Fully automatable - Because valve operations for sterilizing and rinsing are commonly actuated and controlled automatically via PLCs and automated cleaning systems that AI can operate.
Maintain logs of instrument readings, test results, or shift production for entry in computer databases.
AI: Fully automatable - Because instrument readings, test results, and shift production data are typically captured and logged automatically by integrated sensors and software, a straightforward automation task for AI.
Remove full containers from discharge outlets and replace them with empty containers.
AI: Fully automatable - Removing full containers and replacing empties is a repetitive material‑handling task already widely automated with conveyors and robotic pick‑and‑place systems.
Pack bottles into cartons or crates, using machines.
AI: Fully automatable - Packing bottles into cartons is a mature, machine‑driven process commonly automated and coordinated by AI systems.
Operate machines to process materials in compliance with applicable safety, energy, or environmental regulations.
AI: Partial - AI can operate processing equipment and enforce many safety/energy/environmental constraints, but ensuring full regulatory compliance and responding to complex unforeseen regulatory or ethical issues still often requires human oversight.
Examine samples to verify qualities such as clarity, cleanliness, consistency, dryness, or texture.
AI: Partial - Because machine vision and sensors can measure many attributes like clarity and cleanliness, but tactile/qualitative judgments and novel anomalies still often require human examiners.
Inspect machines or equipment for hazards, operating efficiency, malfunctions, wear, or leaks.
AI: Partial - Because AI-powered sensors and analytics can detect many malfunctions, leaks, or efficiency problems, but comprehensive inspections and nuanced hazard judgments still need human expertise.
Collect samples of materials or products for laboratory analysis.
AI: Partial - Because robotic and automated samplers exist for routine lab inputs, but varied field/sample contexts, placement, and chain-of-custody considerations frequently require human operators.
Communicate processing instructions to other workers.
AI: Partial - Because AI can generate and dispatch processing instructions via digital systems, but interpersonal coordination, clarification, and situational adjustments commonly require human communication.
Remove clogs, defects, or impurities from machines, tanks, conveyors, screens, or other processing equipment.
AI: Partial - Because removing clogs and impurities often requires dexterous, adaptive manual intervention and situational judgment, though some automated cleaning/maintenance exists.
Install, maintain, or repair hoses, pumps, filters, or screens to maintain processing equipment, using hand tools.
AI: Partial - Installing, maintaining, and repairing hoses and pumps require varied manual dexterity and on-site judgment that AI/robots can assist with but not fully replace in 2025.
Clean or sterilize tanks, screens, inflow pipes, production areas, or equipment, using hoses, brushes, scrapers, or chemical solutions.
AI: Partial - Because clean-in-place systems can fully automate sterilization for certain equipment, but many cleaning tasks (manual scrubbing, irregular areas, chemical handling) remain partially manual.
Connect pipes between vats and processing equipment.
AI: Partial - Connecting pipes between vats often involves heavy, variable, and spatially constrained work that remains only partially automatable with current robotics and fixtures.
Assemble fittings, valves, bowls, plates, disks, impeller shafts, or other parts to prepare equipment for operation.
AI: Partial - Assembling fittings and internal components can be automated for standardized, repetitive setups but many configurations still need human skill and adaptability.