Manufacturing (Latin  manu factura, "making by hand") is the term for use of our hands, tools, machines and labor to make and mass produced products, tools, devices and machines for use or sale.  From hand produced products such as (arts & handcrafts) or bakery goods to  technology items like a high definition DVD player or a school bus or large 1500 ton injection mold machine. Manufacturing is most commonly applied to industrial mass production, such as the early steam engine or railroad to communications, computer and semi-conductor industries, in which raw materials such as wood, steel, aluminum, silicone, oil and gold are transformed into finished goods on a fast and large scale. Industries such as the semiconductor and steel manufacturers commonly use the term fabrication.  The civil, civic and building industries use the terms construction (roads & bridges , retaining walls) or architectural  manufacturing of buildings or prefabrication such as mobile homes or recreational vehicles and the related components such as OEM (original Equipment manufacturers) the motor chassis or engine, steam shower stall or kitchen appliances. Examples of major manufacturers in the United States include General Motors®,, Ford Motor Company®, Caterpillar®, Airstream®, Whirlpool®, GE®, Boeing®, John Deere®, and Pfizer®.  These companies, among others like Apple® and DELL® also outsource or sub contract manufacture major components, sub components and sub assemblies with final assembly in house or at another contracted assembly facility.

     Modern manufacturing includes all intermediate processes required for the production, fabrication and integration of a multitude of parts, product's and sub components.  Manufacturing Engineering is closely connected with Industrial Design and most other Engineering disciplines.  Manufacturing Engineering and all of the associated manufacturing processes concentrate on the design, development, and fabrication of the machines and equipment to make the manufacturing processes as efficient and as human friendly as possible for generating, constructing and building the parts or sub systems of the tools and products we use everyday. The application and utilization of these processes, based on selecting from the infinite manufacturing possibilities, to create the optimum and most appropriate industrial design - product design configuration,  takes skill, craftsmanship and a working knowledge. Manufacturing Engineering us really an applied mechanical engineering tools on a macro, Systems Engineering level specifically applied to production automation systems and the manufacture of the wide world of product, electromechanical assemblies.  

     Based on the product or machine system complexities, Manufacturing Engineering and Systems Engineering seek to identify new creative methods, design, machining production machine or assembly equipment or development opportunities from many perspectives.  Mastering Materials and there use and application in manufacturing production processes including the capabilities, limitations of each and development using standard industry accepted construction methods is very important.  Knowing what and when to use the right tool or machine process and how materials will behave during and after the process is the responsibility of the Manufacturing Engineer. 

     Working with the Industrial Designers, the ManufE has a working knowledge of the basics be it the bench arbor press or large air or hydraulic presses for operations such as; punching, piercing, blanking, bending, forming, coining, stamping, drawing, embossing, forging, milling, drilling, threading, grinding, casting, extruding or vacuum form, twin sheet, roto or blow mold, gas-assist, lost core, or die cast injection molding is important.   These are all manufacturing basics including keeping up to date with the latest machine, advanced materials and advanced technology processes that are all part of the interdisciplinary field of Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering and applied Manufacturing Processes.

     By leading a project with Industrial design using the latest manufacturing and systems engineering tools, a Designer and Engineer can be sure to develop a product system which both satisfies the materials, tooling, manufacturing, mass production requirements but will also meet the customer’s and Client’s expectations providing a system solution from a (wholistic) systems level - marketing and sales view.  Industrial Designers lead the new product innovation market and meld all of the technical contributors into a unified team effort, forming a structured manufacturing and Process Selection development process that proceeds from idea to concept to production to manufacturing, assembly line and packaging operations.   Below is a list of the primary manufacturing processes with general explanations and considerations. 

See also ManufE Key Vocabulary if needed.