Plant and machine operators, and assemblers · code 8114

Cement, stone and other mineral products machine operators

AI can write the production log. Running the cement plant is still skilled, dusty work.

Keeping production records and checking plans are mostly out of AI's reach. It barely touches six of the ten tasks, including mixing concrete and cutting and polishing stone.

What they actually do (and what else they get called)

Cement, stone and other mineral products machine operators monitor and operate machines for manufacturing and finishing precast concrete, bitumen and stone products, and making cast stone for building purposes. Tasks include - (a) operating extrusion, moulding, mixing, pumping, compacting, grinding and cutting machinery to manufacture and finish precast concrete and stone products; (b) operating plant to produce cement, lime and clinker, including loading and unloading ingredients and operating continuous feed equipment such as pumps and conveyors; (c) operating plant and machines which weigh and mix sand, gravel, cement, water and other ingredients to make concrete; (d) operating plant and machinery which assemble and fill moulds with concrete and artificial stone mixtures, remove castings from moulds and finish surfaces of precast products; (e) cutting, grinding, drilling, sandblasting and polishing concrete products and stone blocks, slabs and products to the specifications for the job; (f) checking production plans and specifications to determine and select materials, ingredients, procedures, components, settings and adjustments for extrusion, moulding, mixing and compacting machines; (g) monitoring plant and machines during operation by observing instruments such as temperature and pressure gauges, adjusting controls and reporting malfunctions as necessary; (h) collecting and examining samples of mixtures and finished products for conformity with specifications and adjusting machine settings accordingly; (i) checking and maintaining production records, including information about quantities, dimensions and types of materials and goods produced; (j) arranging and assisting with plant and machinery maintenance and repair. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Cast-concrete products machine operator - Cast-stone products machine operator - Concrete finishing machine opeerator - Concrete production machine operator - Industrial diamond polishing machine operator - Stone polishing machine operator Some related occupations classified elsewhere: - Stone polisher (hand or hand-powered tools) - 7113 - Stone processing machine operator - 8112 - Kiln operator (brick, pottery or tiles)- 8181 - Extruding clay press operator - 8181 Note Examples of products produced by operators of plant and machines in this unit group include: mixed concrete for use in civil engineering and construction projects, flagstones, concrete bricks and tiles, fencing posts, moulded pipe sections and trench liners, concrete railway sleepers, walling and partition slabs, building components, cable conduits, fume and dust extraction conduits, abrasive wheels and outdoor furniture.

asphalt plant operator
precast moulder
block machine operator
concrete products machine operator
electrolytic cell maker
slate mixer
stone polisher
stone splitter

Job titles from the EU's ESCO list. Search for any of them on the jobs page and you'll end up here.

77 / 100

Mostly holds up against AI

AI can take a few chores off your plate, but most of the day is still yours.

Not the odds you keep your job. It's how much of the everyday work still needs a person, out of 100.

← Robot's turf Human's turf →

The ILO's official verdict: Not Exposed

177 of 427 for holding up against AI

Why this score?

The ILO rated each of this job's 10 tasks for how much of it AI could do. They average 22.6 out of 100, so it holds up at 100 − 22.6 = 77.4.

That's the whole sum. No black box, no secret sauce: you can check it against the ILO's study. ILO group “Not Exposed”: None of this job's tasks scored high enough to count.

from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.8-observed-use

Pinch of salt: this number is probably too rosy

It only asks what AI software could do, and this job is 71 out of 100 hands-on. A chatbot can't do that part. A robot might, one day, and nobody measures how close that is.

Man v Bot · compare

Who holds up better?

Cement, stone and other mineral products machine operators 77

Go on, try your partner's job. Or your sibling's. We won't tell.

Man v Bot

Where the bot helps, and where the human wins

Bot

What AI takes

The routine stuff. You may not miss it.

Production records.
Process control and settings.
Quality sampling data.

Man

What people still do better

Judgement, trust and skilled hands. Hard to download.

Running and adjusting heavy plant.
Maintenance and repairs.
Handling materials safely.

Both

What's arriving

New work that only exists because the AI does.

Lower-carbon cement and concrete.
Remote plant monitoring.
Precast and modular building products.

Written by a human, from the ILO's task ratings below. Yes, we see the irony. Read it as one person's take.

Meet your two rivals

They're not the same machine. AI software can only reach the parts of a job done on a screen or in words. A chatbot can't climb a ladder. A robot might, one day, if it doesn't fall off.

The AI

Lives in a screen. Never had to fix a boiler.

Threat level: Low

28 could do without you

It could take over very little of the work on its own. It could help with 58 of 100.

The robot

The wildcard. Has hands, still working out stairs.

How much it matters here: Higher

71 how hands-on

Most of this job needs hands, a body or turning up. That's robot territory, and nobody measures how far robots have got well enough to give you a number. We won't make one up.

So could a robot do the physical part?

More fine handwork, and more time in cramped or awkward spots, than a typical hands-on job. That is exactly what machines find hardest: they do best in tidy, predictable places.

Robots hate fiddly work in awkward spaces. On that measure, this job scores 45 out of 100. The higher it is, the longer the robot waits.

71 How
hands-on

45 How fiddly
and cramped

Kind of hands-on work Hands-on, fiddly work in tight spaces

The small print

They aren't a robot score, and nothing on this page is. Nobody measures how far robots have got well enough to put a number on it. These are the closest thing we have: how hands-on the job is, and how much fiddly, cramped work it takes, which is what Frey and Osborne found hardest for machines.

From O*NET, averaged across 4 US jobs .

finger skill 46.4 · hand skill 44.6 · cramped spaces 44.6 · averaged · rule: hands-on 50+ · fiddly 39.4+

estimated O*NET 31.0 BLS occupational crosswalk chain ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC (Aug 2012, rev. Jun 2015); 2010 to 2018 SOC (Nov 2017); O*NET-SOC 2019 taxonomy data 0.8-observed-use measures chosen by Frey & Osborne (2017) · the grouping is a sorting, not a measurement

The job, task by task

Every job is really a bundle of tasks. Here's this one unpacked, with how much of each AI could do, out of 100. The score is the average, and averages can hide a lot.

AI's favourite task here scores 50, against an average of 23. The bigger the gap, the more lopsided the job: some of it wide open to AI, some of it barely touched.

50
Checking and maintaining production records, including information about quantities, dimensions and types of materials and goods produced

Low
30
Checking production plans and specifications to determine and select materials, ingredients, procedures, components, settings and adjustments for extrusion, moulding, mixing and compacting machines

Low
28
Collecting and examining samples of mixtures and finished products for conformity to specifications and adjusting machine settings accordingly

Low
26
Monitoring plant and machines during operation by observing instruments such as temperature and pressure gauges, and adjusting controls and reporting malfunctions as necessary

Low
19
Operating plant to produce cement, lime and clinker, including loading and unloading ingredients and operating continuous feed equipment such as pumps and conveyors

Very Low
16
Operating extrusion, moulding, mixing, pumping, compacting, grinding and cutting machinery to manufacture and finish precast concrete and stone products

Very Low
16
Operating plant and machinery which assembles and fills moulds with concrete and artificial stone mixtures, removes castings from moulds and finishes surfaces of precast products

Very Low
15
Arranging and assisting with plant and machinery maintenance and repair.

Very Low
14
Operating plant and machines which weigh and mix sand, gravel, cement, water and other ingredients to make concrete

Very Low
13
Cutting, grinding, drilling, sandblasting and polishing concrete products and stone blocks, slabs and products to the specifications for the job

Very Low

10 tasks · the High to Very Low labels are the ILO's

from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.8-observed-use

New · the weekly task audit

Your week, your score

The score above assumes cement and concrete products operators spend the same time on every task. You don't. Slide each task to how much of your week it takes, and we'll re-weight the same ILO ratings to fit your job.

Checking and maintaining production records, including information about quantities, dimensions and types of materials and goods produced
Some
Checking production plans and specifications to determine and select materials, ingredients, procedures, components, settings and adjustments for extrusion, moulding, mixing and compacting machines
Some
Collecting and examining samples of mixtures and finished products for conformity to specifications and adjusting machine settings accordingly
Some
Monitoring plant and machines during operation by observing instruments such as temperature and pressure gauges, and adjusting controls and reporting malfunctions as necessary
Some
Operating plant to produce cement, lime and clinker, including loading and unloading ingredients and operating continuous feed equipment such as pumps and conveyors
Some
Operating extrusion, moulding, mixing, pumping, compacting, grinding and cutting machinery to manufacture and finish precast concrete and stone products
Some
Operating plant and machinery which assembles and fills moulds with concrete and artificial stone mixtures, removes castings from moulds and finishes surfaces of precast products
Some
Arranging and assisting with plant and machinery maintenance and repair
Some
Operating plant and machines which weigh and mix sand, gravel, cement, water and other ingredients to make concrete
Some
Cutting, grinding, drilling, sandblasting and polishing concrete products and stone blocks, slabs and products to the specifications for the job
Some

Your score

77 / 100

Same as the job as a whole, so far.

Move the sliders to make it yours.

The job as a whole: 77 / 100

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Sidekick or replacement?

A tool that makes you faster is a very different thing from one that does the task while you watch. Jobs and Skills Australia measured the two separately, which is handy.

AI helps you: 58
AI does it for you: 28

Sidekick wins, by 30 points.

How good a match is this?

2 Australian jobs match this one, and we've simply averaged them. Treat the numbers as a rough guide.

estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.8-observed-use matched to Australian jobs 7111, 7129

So, should cement and concrete products operators be worried?

Short answer: not much. Some of the chores will change, and good riddance.

Parts of it are changing. Keeping records, checking plans, sampling products and monitoring gauges are the most exposed tasks, all Low; running mixers, moulds and kilns rates Very Low. Plant control keeps automating, so operators supervise and fix.

Worth remembering: we score tasks, not jobs. When AI takes on a task, the job usually reshuffles around it rather than vanishing.

Where this job could lead

None of the new jobs we've written up start from here yet. Could be you're the first. See the jobs AI is creating →

How are the neighbours doing?

There are 39 jobs in the “Plant and machine operators, and assemblers” family, averaging 80. This one is below the family average.

Pit this against any other job →