Manufacturing is the use of
machines,
tools and labor to make things for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from
handicraft to
high tech, but is most commonly applied to
industrial production, in which
raw materials are transformed into
finished goods on a large scale. Such finished goods may be used for manufacturing other, more complex products, such as
household appliances or
automobiles, or sold to
wholesalers, who in turn sell them to
retailers, who then sell them to end users - the "
consumers".
Manufacturing takes turns under all types of
economic systems. In a free market economy, manufacturing is usually directed toward the
mass production of
products for sale to
consumers at a profit. In a collectivist economy, manufacturing is more frequently directed by the state to supply a centrally planned economy. In free market economies, manufacturing occurs under some degree of government
regulation.
Modern manufacturing includes all intermediate processes required for the production and integration of a product's components. Some industries, such as
semiconductor and
steel manufacturers use the term
fabrication instead.
The manufacturing sector is closely connected with
engineering and
industrial design. Examples of major manufacturers in the
United States include
General Motors Corporation,
Ford Motor Company,
Chrysler,
Boeing,
Gates Corporation and
Pfizer. Examples in Europe include
Airbus,
Daimler,
BMW,
Fiat, and
Michelin Tyre.
History and development
- In its earliest form, manufacturing was usually carried out by a single skilled artisan with assistants. Training was by apprenticeship. In much of the pre-industrial world the guild system protected the privileges and trade secrets of urban artisans.
- Before the Industrial Revolution, most manufacturing occurred in rural areas, where household-based manufacturing served as a supplemental subsistence strategy to agriculture (and continues to do so in places). Entrepreneurs organized a number of manufacturing households into a single enterprise through the putting-out system.
- Toil manufacturing is an arrangement whereby a first firm with specialized equipment processes raw materials or semi-finished goods for a second firm.
Manufacturing systems: The changing methods of manufacturing
Economics of manufacturing
According to some economists, manufacturing is a wealth-producing sector of an economy, whereas a
service sector tends to be wealth-consuming.
Emerging technologies have provided some new growth in advanced manufacturing employment opportunities in the
Manufacturing Belt in the
United States. Manufacturing provides important material support for national
infrastructure and for
national defense.
On the other hand, most manufacturing may involve significant social and environmental costs. The clean-up costs of
hazardous waste, for example, may outweigh the benefits of a product that creates it. Hazardous materials may expose
workers to health risks. Developed countries regulate manufacturing activity with
labor laws and
environmental laws. In the
U.S, manufacturers are subject to regulations by the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the
United States Environmental Protection Agency. In Europe, pollution taxes to offset environmental costs are another form of regulation on manufacturing activity.
Labor Unions and
craft guilds have played a historic role negotiation of worker rights and wages. Environment laws and labor protections that are available in developed nations may not be available in the
third world.
Tort law and
product liability impose additional costs on manufacturing.
Manufacturing and investment around the world
Surveys and analyses of trends and issues in manufacturing and investment around the world focus on such things as:
- the nature and sources of the considerable variations that occur cross-nationally in levels of manufacturing and wider industrial-economic growth;
- attractiveness to foreign direct investors.
In addition to general overviews, researchers have examined the features and factors affecting particular key aspects of manufacturing development. They have compared production and investment in a range of Western and non-Western countries and presented case studies of growth and performance in important individual industries and market-economic sectors. On June 26 2009, Jeff Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, called for the United States to increase its manufacturing base employment to 20% of the workforce, commenting that the U.S. has outsourced too much in some areas and can no longer rely on the financial sector and consumer spending to drive demand.
[Bailey, David and Soyoung Kim (June 26, 2009)..UK Guardian.. Retrieved on June 28, 2009.]Taxonomy of manufacturing processes
Manufacturing categories
- *Cutting tools (metalworking)
Theories
Control
See also
