Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders
In short: today's best AI models could do about 10% 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 90% of the time, stays with people.
Operate or tend heating equipment other than basic metal, plastic, or food processing equipment. Includes activities such as annealing glass, drying lumber, curing rubber, removing moisture from materials, or boiling soap.
14,280 people do this job in the US. $48,040 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
Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle 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: Calculate amounts of materials to be loaded into furnaces, adjusting amounts as necessary for specific conditions (about 2 h); Record gauge readings, test results, and shift production in log books (about 1 h); Read and interpret work orders and instructions to determine work assignments, process specifications, and production schedules (under an hour).
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.
- 10%
- 4%
- 86%
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, 3%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 10%. Today's estimate: 10%.
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 17 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.003% to none (released February and March 2025); 0.0067% to 0.0018% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.003% | 653 of 708 | 1 of 17 |
| Released March 2025 | none | n/a | 0 of 17 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0067% | 504 of 655 | 1 of 17 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.0021% | 640 of 672 | 1 of 17 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0018% | 655 of 677 | 1 of 17 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 17 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 17 |
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 58% of this job's working time as physical work. For 52% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 33% in a purpose-built cell, 19% in a structured facility. 0.71 of 3, the 255th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 42%
- No robot shown 6%
- In a purpose-built cell 33%
- In a structured facility 19%
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 . 17 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monitor equipment operation, gauges, and panel lights to detect deviations from standards.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 18% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Melt or refine metal before casting, calculating required temperatures, and observe metal color, adjusting controls as necessary to maintain required temperatures.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, ARMS (Automated Robotic Melt Shop) (Inductotherm Group) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 13% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Remove products from equipment, manually or using hoists, and prepare them for storage, shipment, or additional processing.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, MWES Robotic Furnace Tending Cell (Midwest Engineered Systems) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Press and adjust controls to activate, set, and regulate equipment according to specifications.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Furnace SCADA / recipe-and-batch control systems (e.g., Ipsen, Conrad Kacsik integrations) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Clean, lubricate, and adjust equipment, using scrapers, solvents, air hoses, oil, and hand tools.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Diamond Power sootblowers / Hydro Shower cleaning system (ANDRITZ) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 50 min25 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Load equipment receptacles or conveyors with material to be processed, by hand or using hoists.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, USNR Counter-Flow Kiln staging and loading system (pushers) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Transport materials and products to and from work areas, manually or using carts, handtrucks, or hoists.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Seegrid Tow Tractor S7 / Lift RS1 AMRs (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Calculate amounts of materials to be loaded into furnaces, adjusting amounts as necessary for specific conditions.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 25 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Examine or test samples of processed substances, or collect samples for laboratory testing, to ensure conformance to specifications.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, QCX/RoboLab (FLSmidth Cement / Fuller Technologies) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Stop equipment and clear blockages or jams, using fingers, wire, or hand tools.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Direct crane operators and crew members to load vessels with materials to be processed.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Confer with supervisors or other equipment operators to report equipment malfunctions or to resolve production problems.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | Stays with people |
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.
- Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders5% now, 5% by 2028
- Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders13% now, 13% by 2028
- Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders8% now, 8% by 2028
- Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic20% now, 20% by 2028
- Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders5% now, 5% by 2028
- Machine Feeders and Offbearers5% now, 5% 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 Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 10% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 10% 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 Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle 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: Calculate amounts of materials to be loaded into furnaces, adjusting amounts as necessary for specific conditions (100% of the task's time now); Record gauge readings, test results, and shift production in log books (100% of the task's time now); and Read and interpret work orders and instructions to determine work assignments, process specifications, and production schedules (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle 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: Monitor equipment operation, gauges, and panel lights to detect deviations from standards; Melt or refine metal before casting, calculating required temperatures, and observe metal color, adjusting controls as necessary to maintain required temperatures; and Remove products from equipment, manually or using hoists, and prepare them for storage, shipment, or additional processing. Together such tasks are about 90% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle 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 Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 58% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 52% of the working time, 19% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.71 of 3. One example: ARMS (Automated Robotic Melt Shop) for "melt or refine metal before casting, calculating required temperatures, and observe metal color, adjusting controls as necessary to maintain required temperatures". 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 17 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
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