Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Set up, operate, or tend machines to mix or blend materials, such as chemicals, tobacco, liquids, color pigments, or explosive ingredients.
94,920 people do this job in the US. $48,990 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 4%
- 0%
- 96%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h 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, 5%. Today's estimate: 5%.
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.
The tasks
Sorted by . 20 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operate or tend machines to mix or blend any of a wide variety of materials, such as spices, dough batter, tobacco, fruit juices, chemicals, livestock feed, food products, color pigments, or explosive ingredients.Done daily by most who do it. | 15% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Compound or process ingredients or dyes, according to formulas.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Observe production or monitor equipment to ensure safe and efficient operation.Done daily by most who do it. | 9% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Tend accessory equipment, such as pumps or conveyors, to move materials or ingredients through production processes.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Mix or blend ingredients by starting machines and mixing for specified times.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Clean and maintain equipment, using hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Test samples of materials or products to ensure compliance with specifications, using test equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Weigh or measure materials, ingredients, or products to ensure conformance to requirements.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Clean work areas.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 17 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Stop mixing or blending machines when specified product qualities are obtained and open valves and start pumps to transfer mixtures.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 29 min | Stays with people | |
| Unload mixtures into containers or onto conveyors for further processing.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 33 min | Stays with people | |
| Collect samples of materials or products for laboratory testing.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 29 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 Tenders6% now, 6% by 2028
- Food Batchmakers13% now, 23% by 2028
- Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders5% now, 5% by 2028
- Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders6% now, 6% by 2028
- Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders14% now, 14% 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).