AI exposure: Textile Winding, Twisting, and Drawing Out Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
Set up, operate, or tend machines that wind or twist textiles; or draw out and combine sliver, such as wool, hemp, or synthetic fibers. Includes slubber machine and drawing frame operators.
Reading this score
computedAt 18.1% of weighted task load, Textile Winding, Twisting, and Drawing Out Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders sits at the 31th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 70.9% of what this role does is untouched, meaning current systems cannot produce that work at all, whatever the commercial incentive.
What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 23 tasks it averages 2.68 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work has to happen in physical space. A language model cannot move matter. Until the robotics to do this work is both good enough and cheap enough to deploy widely, capability in software does not reach it.
The most exposed thing this job does is Record production data such as numbers and types of bobbins wound, at 73.3%. The least is Clean, oil, and lubricate machines, at 0.0%. A gap of 73.3% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within production occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 107 roles in the group is 16.1%, and only 40 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.
What would move this score. Of 23 tasks, 5 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 18 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take robotics cheap and reliable enough to deploy at scale, not a better language model. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 1.05 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.68 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.56 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.38 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.00 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.78 | 0-3 |
Task by task
23 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record production data such as numbers and types of bobbins wound. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.25 | exposed |
| Notify supervisors or mechanics of equipment malfunctions. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 4.49 | exposed |
| Study guides, samples, charts, and specification sheets, or confer with supervisors or engineering staff to determine setup requirements. | 43.8% | 18.8% | 37.5% | 4.16 | exposed |
| Replace depleted supply packages with full packages. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.23 | exposed |
| Observe operations to detect defects, malfunctions, or supply shortages. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.11 | exposed |
| Inspect products to verify that they meet specifications and to determine whether machine adjustment is needed. | 18.3% | 6.7% | 75.0% | 4.17 | untouched |
| Observe bobbins as they are winding and cut threads to remove loaded bobbins, using knives. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 4.58 | untouched |
| Start machines, monitor operation, and make adjustments as needed. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 4.27 | untouched |
| Stop machines when specified amount of products has been produced. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 4.21 | untouched |
| Tend machines that twist together two or more strands of yarn or insert additional twists into single strands of yarn to increase strength, smoothness, or uniformity of yarn. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 4.17 | untouched |
| Adjust machine settings such as speed or tension to produce products that meet specifications. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 4.18 | untouched |
| Tend spinning frames that draw out and twist roving or sliver into yarn. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 4.14 | untouched |
| Tend machines with multiple winding units that wind thread onto shuttle bobbins for use on sewing machines or other kinds of bobbins for sole-stitching, knitting, or weaving machinery. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 3.95 | untouched |
| Inspect machinery to determine whether repairs are needed. | 13.3% | 11.7% | 75.0% | 4.27 | untouched |
| Operate machines for test runs to verify adjustments and to obtain product samples. | 11.7% | 13.3% | 75.0% | 3.89 | untouched |
| Install, level, and align machine components such as gears, chains, guides, dies, cutters, or needles to set up machinery for operation. | 10.7% | 5.9% | 83.3% | 4.06 | untouched |
| Thread yarn, thread, or fabric through guides, needles, and rollers of machines. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.29 | untouched |
| Unwind lengths of yarn, thread, or twine from spools and wind onto bobbins. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.29 | untouched |
| Remove spindles from machines and bobbins from spindles. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.12 | untouched |
| Place bobbins on spindles and insert spindles into bobbin-winding machines. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.99 | untouched |
| Repair or replace worn or defective parts or components, using hand tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.93 | untouched |
| Measure bobbins periodically, using gauges, and turn screws to adjust tension if bobbins are not of specified size. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.85 | untouched |
| Clean, oil, and lubricate machines, using air hoses, cleaning solutions, rags, oilcans, and grease guns. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.51 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.
What this means in practice
Most of this work is not reachable by current systems, so the immediate pressure is on the administrative edges of the role rather than its core: the scheduling, the reporting, the written records. That is where time is recovered.