COOKED
The core of this job — running MRP/ERP schedules, checking inventory against work orders, chasing late purchase orders, updating production status reports, and emailing suppliers about delivery dates — is exactly the structured data reconciliation and templated correspondence that ERP automation plus LLMs now handle end to end. What resists is the part that happens off-system: walking the floor to see why line 3 actually stopped, working a supplier contact who owes you a favor to pull a shipment forward, and making the call on which order slips when two customers both scream. That tier is real but it is a fraction of the hours, and no license protects the rest.
Core tasks are already automatable. Releasing work orders off an MRP run, reconciling on-hand counts to BOM requirements, pulling open-PO aging reports, and sending delivery-date follow-ups are already native ERP functions or one prompt away, which is why this sits at 6 rather than mid-band — the exception handling that resists is a slice of the week, not the backbone of the job.
Some physical or field component. A 7 reflects the genuine floor time — physically walking the line to see why the machine is down, counting a bin that the system says is wrong, checking a staging area before you promise a ship date — but you spend most of the shift at a terminal in a plant office, not in the uncontrolled outdoor or field conditions that push a score into the teens.
No licence, no signature requirement. There is no license, no state board, and no certification anyone actually checks for this role — an APICS/CPIM credential helps you get hired and raises your pay, but nothing legal stops the plant from having a supervisor or a system release the schedule instead of you, which is what puts this at 1 rather than 5.
Some relationship component. The 6 is earned by the specific supplier expediters and line leads who take your call and move your part ahead of someone else's, but the customer never knows your name and the relationship is with the plant's purchase volume more than with you personally, so it doesn't approach product-status.
Meaningful discretion. When two orders compete for the same short part and you decide which customer slips, that is real discretion — but it typically runs inside priority rules, a customer tier list, or an escalation to the production manager who owns the consequence, which keeps this at 7 rather than in the range where the ambiguous call and its fallout are both yours.
Has AI actually changed your work?