Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders
In short: today's best AI models could do about 9% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 91% of the time, stays with people.
Operate or tend bonding machines that use adhesives to join items for further processing or to form a completed product. Processes include joining veneer sheets into plywood; gluing paper; or joining rubber and rubberized fabric parts, plastic, simulated leather, or other materials.
11,500 people do this job in the US. $46,460 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on4 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people36 h
Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 4 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 36 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Maintain production records such as quantities, dimensions, and thicknesses of materials processed (about 2 h); Read work orders and communicate with coworkers to determine machine and equipment settings and adjustments and supply and product specifications (about 2 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 9%
- 0%
- 91%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 5%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 9%. Today's estimate: 9%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 16 tasks showed up.
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
| Released March 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.002% | 643 of 672 | 1 of 16 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 16 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 87% of this job's working time as physical work. For 83% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 69% in a purpose-built cell, 14% in a structured facility. 0.97 of 3, the 128th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 13%
- No robot shown 4%
- In a purpose-built cell 69%
- In a structured facility 14%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 16 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perform test production runs and make adjustments as necessary to ensure that completed products meet standards and specifications.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, BOBST MASTERFOLD 110 with Matic setup, HMI SPHERE and ACCUCHECK (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 16% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Monitor machine operations to detect malfunctions and report or resolve problems.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Coherix Predator3D (with Auto Repair, Nozzle Check, LocationMaster, Z-Tracking) (Coherix, Inc.) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 14% | 17 min4 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Remove and stack completed materials or products, and restock materials to be joined.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Rigorous Technology folder-gluer prefeeder robot + palletizing robot (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 17 min4 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Mount or load material such as paper, plastic, wood, or rubber in feeding mechanisms of cementing or gluing machines.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Rigorous Technology Box Hopper folder-gluer prefeeder robot (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Transport materials, supplies, and finished products between storage and work areas, using forklifts.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Seegrid Palion / Lift RS1 and Lift CR1 AMRs (autonomous lift trucks) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Adjust machine components according to specifications such as widths, lengths, and thickness of materials and amounts of glue, cement, or adhesive required.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, HOMAG KFL 350 flexLine edgebanding cell (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Clean and maintain gluing and cementing machines, using solutions, lubricants, brushes, and scrapers.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Nasarc AutoClean robotic torch maintenance center (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Maintain production records such as quantities, dimensions, and thicknesses of materials processed.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Remove jammed materials from machines and readjust components as necessary to resume normal operations.Done more than weekly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Fill machines with glue, cement, or adhesives.Done several times a day by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Nordson Fulfill / ProBlue Fulfill adhesive fill systems (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Examine and measure completed materials or products to verify conformance to specifications, using measuring devices such as tape measures, gauges, or calipers.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Glue Inspection Vision System (FPGA-triggered multi-camera inline inspection) (DMC, Inc. for a packaging manufacturer) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | Stays with people | |
| Read work orders and communicate with coworkers to determine machine and equipment settings and adjustments and supply and product specifications.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 8 min4 min to 21 min | 100%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Paper Goods Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders0% now, 0% by 2028
- Cutting and Slicing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders7% now, 7% by 2028
- Machine Feeders and Offbearers5% now, 5% by 2028
- Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders13% now, 13% by 2028
- Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic14% now, 14% by 2028
- Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders1% now, 1% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 9% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 9% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Maintain production records such as quantities, dimensions, and thicknesses of materials processed (100% of the task's time now); and Read work orders and communicate with coworkers to determine machine and equipment settings and adjustments and supply and product specifications (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Perform test production runs and make adjustments as necessary to ensure that completed products meet standards and specifications; Monitor machine operations to detect malfunctions and report or resolve problems; and Remove and stack completed materials or products, and restock materials to be joined. Together such tasks are about 91% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 87% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 83% of the working time, 14% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.97 of 3. One example: Seegrid Palion / Lift RS1 and Lift CR1 AMRs (autonomous lift trucks) for "transport materials, supplies, and finished products between storage and work areas, using forklifts". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 16 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
This job in your state or metro area
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.
Your own version of this job
The page above is the occupation. Your job is your title and what you actually do: give both, and they are read against these tasks in your browser, nothing sent anywhere. The headline is free: how much of your working time is within reach now and by the end of 2028, and how many of the tasks your description names.
This occupation has not been reviewed task by task yet, so the full personal report is not offered for it; 402 of 923 occupations are reviewed so far, largest first.