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Unit 1 Introduction to Manufacturing
This was the beginning of manufacturing or “making prod-
ucts in a mechanical manner.” As specialization grew, manufac-
turing became concentrated in special buildings called factories.
Cities grew, and many people left the farms for jobs in the facto-
ries. Employees were divided into workers and managers.
During this period, manufacturing used machines to produce a
large quantity of a specific product. The emphasis was on mate-
rial processing—people using machines to make products from
materials. This resulted in an industrialized society.
Today, we are moving into an age where products are first
made in the mind. This has been called mentafacturing or
“making in the human mind.” This ability has been made
possible with the development of the computer. Emphasis has
moved from processing materials to processing information.
Computers, like the one shown in Figure 2-2, can be used to
prepare presentations, create drawings, monitor machine oper-
ations, inspect products, and maintain production records.
With these developments, society has moved into the
information age. Examples of information age products
include modern jet aircraft. See Figure 2-3. These aircraft are
“manufactured” and “flown” on a computer before the actual
aircraft are built. With computers, the human mind can con-
ceive, design, build, and test products before the human hand
will actually operate machines to process materials.
All these manufacturing methods can be viewed as com-
plete systems. In Chapter 1, you learned that a system has several components.
These include inputs, processes, outputs, feedback, and goals.
manufacturing. The
process of changing
resources into more
useful products.
factories. Special
buildings where
people use machines
to manufacture
products.
industrialized
society. One in
which people use
machines to
manufacture large
quantities of
products from
materials.
mentafacturing.
Products are first
made in the mind.
This has been called
“making in the
human mind.” Figure 2-2. These business people are using a laptop computer to review information
and help plan a presentation.
Figure 2-1. People in early manufactur-
ing used simple tools and materials.