MANUFACTURING

MANUFACTURING the industry that makes cars, books, clothing, furniture, paper, pencils and thousands of other products. The word manufacture comes from the Latin words manus (hand) and facere (to make). But today, manufacturing means the making of articles by machinery as well as by hand.

Manufacturing plants have great importance to the welfare of their communities. When a factory hires 100 workers, for example, it also creates about 175 jobs outside the factory. These include jobs for canteen staff, clerks and other people who provide the factory employees with the goods and services they need.

Until the early 1900’s, the greatest manufacturing centres were in Western Europe. The United States became the leading manufacturing nation during World War I (1914 – 1918). Since then, it has ranked as the greatest producer of manufactured goods.

Video1

The Future Of Manufacturing

Uploaded on Jan 9, 2012/http://www.weforum.org/

The World Economic Forum's Future of Manufacturing project 

Kinds of manufacturing

Manufactured items may be divided into heavy or light and durable or nondurable goods. A durable product lasts for a long time. A nondurable product is used up quickly. A railway locomotive is a heavy durable product. A loaf of bread is a light nondurable item.

All manufactured products are either consumer goods or producer goods. Retail shops, such as grocers or chemists, sell consumer goods to millions of buyers. These products include radios, rugs, food and thousands of other items. Producer goods are products used to make other products. They include springs, bearings, printing presses and many other items.

Manufacturing industries are usually located in regions that have abundant natural resources, good transportation, mild climates and large populations. North America, Europe and Asia rank as leaders in all these categories. Together they produce more than 90 percent of the world’s manufactured goods.

In the United States, there are over 500,000 manufacturing companies that have total investments of 1 billion U.S. dollars. These companies include individually owned firms, partnerships and corporations. Much of the money invested is for the plant and equipment. The rest is represented by the inventory of materials waiting to be worked on or sold. U.S. manufacturing firms employ about 20 million people and account for about 22 of every 100 U.S. dollars earned in the earned in the nation.

Most big U.S. manufacturers are near large cities. The 15 major manufacturing regions, in order of importance, are Los Angeles-Long Beach, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, Detroit, Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Boston, St. Louis, Rochester, Newark, San Francisco-Oakland, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Baltimore.

In Europe. Europe ranks after the united States as the world’s main manufacturing region. The major manufacturing nations of Western Europe are France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Before German reunification in 1990, West Germany was already Europe’s dominant manufacturing nation. Its factories were more modern and efficient than those in East Germany, which had been run by a centralized Communist planning system. Other countries in Eastern Europe, such as Hungary and Czechoslovakia, moved toward freer economic systems in the early 1990’s, with a shift from state-run to privately-run factories. State-run industries are often called nationalized industries. Major manufacturing nations of the Eastern Europe include Poland, Russia and Ukraine.

In Africa, there is almost no manufacturing. The continent has poor transportation and vast areas with sparse populations. Africa has about a third of the world’s potential water power. But most sites for power plants are in regions where it would be difficult to develop industries. Less than 1 percent of Africa’s available water power is used. 

In America Latin, manufacturing has gradually increased in importance. The region’s leading manufacturing countries include Brazil and Mexico, which make such products as motor vehicles, chemicals and steel. Many Latin American nations produce cement, processed foods and textiles. A number of countries, including Mexico and Venezuela, manufacture petroleum products.

In Australia and New Zealand, manufacturing plays an important part in the economy, providing jobs for nearly a quarter of all workers in both countries. Australia has rich mineral resources and produces most of its metals for local industrial use. It manufacturers vehicles and electrical and engineering goods and has a petrochemical industry. New Zealand lacks Australia’s mineral resources, but its products include aluminium products, carpets, pulp and paper.

The main steps in manufacturing

Design and engineering. Manufacturing must design products that will be easily and safe to use, without being too expensive to make and deliver to a customer. Manufacturers of consumer goods often change the styles of their products. The new designs attract the public’s interest and frequently include improvements on the old styles. After the basic product design has been determined, engineers with different skills work to produce instructions for making the product. They often build and test a prototype (sample of the product) before selling the item.

Purchasing. The raw materials and purchased parts used in making the finished product must be bought and delivered to the plant. Raw materials come from farms, forests, fisheries, mines and quarries. Some manufacturers, such as those that make food products, buy most raw materials from nearby areas. Others may require raw materials that must be shipped from the other side of the world. For example, the U.S. state of Ohio manufacturers the most tyres in the world. But the rubber for these factories comes from Asia. Some manufacturers purchase parts that are already made. For example, car manufacturers buy finished tyres and use them in their own finished product – cars.

Making products involves one or more of three processes (1) synthetic, (2) analytic (3) conditioning.

Manufacturers who use the synthetic process mix ingredients or assemble ready-made parts. A paint manufacturer mixers chemicals to produce paint and a car company assembles parts to make a car.

In the analytic process, the manufacturer breaks down a raw material. Oil refineries break crude oil down into petrol, oil and other parts. A fish goes through an analytic process at a processing plant and comes out as tinned fish based products.

The conditioning process changes the form of raw materials. Ore from mines becomes ingots (bricks) or sheets of metal, which then may be formed into usable parts. Rocks from quarries are made into gravel.

Besides making the product, a manufacturer must have a system of quality control. Specially trained workers check the raw materials and examine the finished products. They make sure that the products meet company standards. Careful production control is also essential. Experts make sure that the right materials in the right amounts go to the proper place at the proper time.

Distribution and sales account for a large part of the prices of products. A can of paint costs much more than the chemicals and labour needed to manufacture it. The final price of a product includes the costs of advertising, packaging, shipping, storage, commissions to salespeople, office work and taxes. In addition to these costs, the price must give a fair profit to the manufacturer, the wholesalers and the retailers.

How science helps manufacturing

Engineer and scientists continually experiment and search for new materials that will improve manufactured items. As a result of research since the early 1800’s, manufacturers use hundreds of kinds of plastics. Plastic products have replaced less sturdy, less attractive and more expansive materials.

Research not only develops new products, but also finds uses for old ones. In addition, it leads to lower prices as manufacturers discover more efficient ways to make products. For example, until car companies developed the assembly-line method of manufacturing in the early 1900’s, only the wealthiest families could afford cars.

Widespread industrial research began after World War I (1914 – 1918), when research became more and more important as a part of manufacturing. Today, companies spend huge amounts for industrial research.

Video2

The Future of Manufacturing: Growing American Competitiveness

Uploaded on Jan 9, 2012 / http://www.weforum.org/

The World Economic Forum's Future of Manufacturing project tracks how the global
manufacturing ecosystem is evolving. This five-minute investigation explores the future of 
industry and asks does manufacturing really matter? Leading manufacturers and policymakers
discuss human capital, currency volatility, labor rate arbitrage and the potential of advanced manufacturing. The Future of Manufacturing project identifies what companies and countries
must do to win in a rapidly changing world

How governments help manufacturing

Thousands of government laws regulations protect a manufacturer’s property. The government also provides legal ways to buy and sell goods and property and to establish companies. Government also plays an important role in keeping money stable so that its value does not change greatly from day to day and from one area to another. The government permits manufacturers to patent new products or methods that they have developed.

Governments furnish businesses with statistics that help them plan their sales and purchases. They give manufacturers loans at low rates of interest and sometimes give them subsidies or outright grants (subsidy). Governments protect home industries by levying tariffs on goods imported from other countries. Many nations encourage manufacturers to build factories by not levying taxes on their profits for a certain number of years. Governments also provide funding to colleges and universities for manufacturing-related research. Related articles: aviation, ceramics, clothing, factory, food, forest products, industrial revolution, industry, machine, mass production, metal, plastics, printing, publishing, technology, textile and transportation.

Video3

President Obama On Manufacturing

Published on Mar 9, 2012

President Obama speaks at a Rolls-Royce jet engine manufacturing plant about the importance  of a strong American manufacturing industry that creates good jobs for workers making products that  can be sold all over the world. March 9, 2012.