Manufacturing is the creation of finished goods through tools, human labor, machinery, and chemical processing. An industry that produces large quantities of goods from raw materials after processing them into more valuable products is called a manufacturing industry. The secondary sector covers the manufacturing and trading activities that facilitate the production of tangible goods from the raw materials produced by the primary sector.
Examples of manufacturing include automotive companies, bakeries, shoe manufacturers, and tailors. Because, they create products rather than providing services. Modern advanced manufacturing often involves multiple intermediate processes to create various components for a finished product. Some manufacturers use the term fabrication for this. Manufacturing has close ties to the fields of engineering and industrial process design.
In the past, handmade products dominated the market before the Industrial Revolution. This period marked the beginning of the industrial process, where raw materials were manufactured into finished products in large quantities. The development of steam engines and new technologies allowed companies to use machines in the manufacturing process. This reduces the need for human capital and increases the quantity of goods that can be produced. Ford became famous for mass-production methods in the early 20th century.
Computers and precision electronic equipment have since allowed companies to pioneer high-tech manufacturing methods. The skills required to operate machinery and develop manufacturing processes have changed drastically over time. Many low-skilled manufacturing jobs have moved from developed to developing countries because labor is cheaper in developing countries. As such, high-end products that require precision and skilled manufacturing are typically produced in developed economies. China is the top manufacturing country in global manufacturing output. (31.6%) followed by United States (15.9%), Japan (6.5%), Germany (4.8%), India (2.9%), South Korea (2.7%).
Manufacturing activity in India is increasing in several industries including electronics, automotive, textiles, pharmaceuticals, as more and more international companies push to expand their upstream and downstream sourcing partners to expand their geographic presence. Today, technology has driven innovation with digital transformation as a key factor in gaining an edge in this highly competitive market.
The Indian manufacturing sector is steadily moving towards more automated process-based manufacturing, accounting for 17% of the country’s gross domestic product and employing over 27.3 million workers, the manufacturing sector plays an important role in the Indian economy. India is steadily progressing towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4.0) of industry through initiatives such as the National Manufacturing Policy, which aims to increase the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25 percent by 2025. It is on track to become a major global manufacturing hub by 2030. Tata Motors is India’s largest manufacturing company by turnover with revenue of Rs 284,997 crore.
Different regions of the country for manufacturing sector are specialized for different products. There are many IT, pharmaceuticals, textiles consumer durable units in the Mumbai Aurangabad corridor. Aurangabad is also developing as an automobile manufacturing and engineering hub. Pune is particularly known for IT and manufacturing. Gurugram-Bhiwadi-Neemrana corridor for India’s oldest automobile cluster, Noida – Greater Noida – Yamuna Expressway for India’s electronics manufacturing corridor, Bengaluru as India’s Silicon Valley, Tirupati- Nellore cluster near Chennai as Detroit of India, Hyderabad for promoting innovation, Vadodara-Baruch-Ankleshwar cluster is famous for power engineering, chemicals cluster of the country. Gujarat (18.01%) and Maharashtra (13.97%) are leading states in manufacturing in India. The five states of India are Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. These five states account for 53% of India’s total manufacturing gross value addition.
In India, some issues like inflation, economic instability, geo-political disturbances are making it difficult to run this business. Additionally, manufacturing industry issues like lack of skilled manpower, supply chain issues, lag in research and development, digitalization and automation challenges may slow down the growth of this sector. There are many ways to improve the manufacturing sector.
Technology is important to reduce costs, increase efficiency, improve quality control, customer satisfaction, reduce waste, and internal training programs to prepare employees to adapt to new technologies and processes. Apart from this, the upcoming technology should be used from time to time. Manufacturing should adapt to changes in consumer tastes and preferences. Only then can the growth of the manufacturing sector in India be brought to a sustainable level.
