Manufacturing

Manufacturing describes the transformation of raw materials into finished goods for sale. It is also known by the term secondary industry.

The term is often restricted to the bulk production of low-cost goods rather than the work of an individual artisan - see mass production.

Modern-style manufacturing industries are generally regarded as beginning around 1750 with the Industrial Revolution.

Whilst it remains a huge part of the modern world economy, many of the world's wealthiest nations devote a smaller and smaller proportion of their workforce to manufacturing enterprises due to their relocation to lower-wage countries and the rising proportion of economic activity devoted to tertiary industry.