Production, Planning, and Expediting Clerks
Coordinate and expedite the flow of work and materials within or between departments of an establishment according to production schedule. Duties include reviewing and distributing production, work, and shipment schedules; conferring with department supervisors to determine progress of work and completion dates; and compiling reports on progress of work, inventory levels, costs, and production problems.
390,160 people do this job in the US. $59,650 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 86%
- 11%
- 4%
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, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 53%. Today's estimate: 63%.
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 . 17 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan production commitments or timetables for business units, specific programs, or jobs, using sales forecasts.Done daily by most who do it. | 19% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | 46%Half by Oct 2026 | |
| 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.Done daily by most who do it. | 11% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 77%Half by now | |
| Arrange for delivery, assembly, or distribution of supplies or parts to expedite flow of materials and meet production schedules.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 50 min17 min to 2.1 h | 91%Half by now | |
| Compile information, such as production rates and progress, materials inventories, materials used, or customer information, so that status reports can be completed.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 77%Half by now | |
| Establish and prepare product construction directions and locations and information on required tools, materials, equipment, numbers of workers needed, and cost projections.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 3.3 h1.3 h to 6.7 h | 41%Half by Nov 2026 | |
| Requisition and maintain inventories of materials or supplies necessary to meet production demands.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | 87%Half by now | |
| Compile and prepare documentation related to production sequences, transportation, personnel schedules, or purchase, maintenance, or repair orders.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.8 h | 83%Half by now | |
| Confer with establishment personnel, vendors, or customers to coordinate production or shipping activities and to resolve complaints or eliminate delays.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Review documents, such as production schedules, work orders, or staffing tables, to determine personnel or materials requirements or material priorities.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | 98%Half by now | |
| Confer with department supervisors or other personnel to assess progress and discuss needed changes.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min13 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Examine documents, materials, or products and monitor work processes to assess completeness, accuracy, and conformance to standards and specifications.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Distribute production schedules or work orders to departments.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 17 min8 min to 38 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.
- Project Management Specialists45% now, 85% by 2028
- Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks43% now, 43% by 2028
- First-Line Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers, Hand44% now, 50% by 2028
- First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers35% now, 62% by 2028
- Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping21% now, 21% by 2028
- First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers47% now, 77% 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).