Essential Manufacturing

1Introduction

Most countries need to use the work of their population to create wealth. If they have a significant size of population then for them, a healthy manufacturing industry is an essential ingredient for prosperity. In a general sense, modern manufacturing now covers a broad range of economic activity. As well as including the technology and management of the manufacturing process it also now spans the spectrum from understanding markets through to distribution and services. However, this book will focus on the core aspects of manufacturing and this chapter describes what manufacturing is, considers what is meant by the term ‘prosperity’, shows why manufacturing is an indispensable creator of wealth and concludes by considering the complex global environment in which it exists.

Around 10 000 BC the world population was about 10 million, by 5000 BC it was 100 million, by 1650 AD 500 million and today, in the early decades of the twenty‐first century, it is approximately 7500 million and increasing. Early humans could survive off the land by hunting and gathering but as the population increased so the need for planned agriculture arose to ensure an adequate food supply. However, since the population of just one city such as Shanghai or Karachi is double that of the early world, manufacturing industry has now become an essential factor in creating the wealth necessary to support the world's 7.5 billion people.

Deriving from two Latin words, ‘manus’ meaning ‘hand’, and ‘ ...