Manufacturing (from Latin manu factura, "making by hand") is the use of 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.

Manufacturing takes place 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 Rubber Company and Pfizer. Examples in Europe include Airbus, Daimler, BMW, Fiat, and Michelin Tyre.

Context

• The economics and commercial of a company is covered in Business.
• The classification of those Businesses is covered in Industry.
• The economic decisions taken within this activity is covered in Production.
• The law as applied to businesses is covered in Commercial Law.
• The general management of a business is in Management (see also: General manager).
• The political impact of the development of industry is covered in Political economy
• The use of computer technology is covered by Product Lifecycle Management, Advanced Planning and Scheduling and Scheduling (production processes)

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.
• The beginnings of modern industrial manufacturing are covered in the Industrial Revolution article.
• The development of the modern manufacturing facility is covered in the factory article.
• The development of the applied science behind manufacturing is covered in the industrial process article.
• Toil manufacturing is an arrangement whereby a first firm with specialized equipment processes raw materials or semi-finished goods for a second firm.