Manufacturing is the production of
merchandise for use or sale using labour and
machines,
tools, chemical and biological processing, or formulation. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from
handicraft to
high tech, but is most commonly applied to
industrial production, in which
raw materials are transformed into
finished goods on a large scale. Such finished goods may be used for manufacturing other, more complex products, such as
aircraft,
household appliances or
automobiles, or sold to
wholesalers, who in turn sell them to
retailers, who then sell them to
end users and
consumers.