The materials processed by manufacturing establishments include products of agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, and quarrying as well as products of other manufacturing establishments.  The new product of a manufacturing establishment may be finished in the sense that it is ready for utilization or consumption, or it may be semifinished to become a raw material for an establishment engaged in further manufacturing.  For example, the product of the copper smelter is the raw material used in electrolytic refineries; refined copper is the raw material used by copper wire mills; and copper wire is the raw material used by certain electrical equipment manufacturers.

The materials used by manufacturing establishments may be purchased directly from producers, obtained through customary trade channels, or secured without recourse to the market by transferring the product from one establishment to another which is under the same ownership.  Manufacturing production is usually carried on for the wholesale market, for interplant transfer, or to order for industrial users, rather than for direct sale to the domestic consumer.

There are numerous borderline cases between manufacturing and other divisions of the classification system.  Specific instances will be found in the descriptions of the individual industries.  The following activities, although not always considered as manufacturing, are so classified:

  •  Milk bottling and pasteurizing
  •  Fresh fish packaging (oyster shucking, fish filleting)
  •  Apparel jobbing (assigning of materials to contract factories or shops for fabrication or other contract operations) as well as contracting on materials owned by others
  •  Publishing
  •  Ready-mixed concrete production
  •  Leather converting
  •  Logging
  •  Wood preserving
  •  Various service industries to the manufacturing trade, such as typesetting, engraving, plate printing, and preparing electrotyping and stereotype plates, but not blueprinting or photocopying services
  •  Electroplating, plating, metal heat treating, and polishing for the trade
  •  Lapidary work for the trade
  •  Fabricating of signs and advertising displays

There are also some manufacturing-type activities performed by establishments which are primarily engaged in activities covered by other divisions, and are, thus, not classified as manufacturing.  A few of the more important examples are:

Processing on farms is not considered manufacturing if the raw materials are grown on the farm and if the manufacturing activities are on a small scale without the extensive use of paid labor.  Other exclusions are threshing and cotton ginning.

The dressing and beneficiating of ores; the breaking, washing, and grading of coal; the crushing and breaking of stone; and the crushing, grinding, or otherwise preparing of sand, gravel, and nonmetallic chemical and fertilizer minerals other than barite are classified in Mining.

Fabricating operations performed at the site of construction by contractors are not considered manufacturing, but the prefabrication of sheet metal, concrete, and terrazzo products and similar construction materials is included in the Manufacturing Division.

Establishments engaged in the following types of operations are included in Wholesale or Retail Trade:  Cutting and selling purchased carcasses; Preparing feed at grain elevators and farm supply stores; Stemming leaf tobacco at wholesale establishments; and Production of wiping rags.  The breaking of bulk and redistribution in smaller lots, including packaging, repackaging, or bottling products, such as liquors or chemicals, is also classified as Wholesale or Retail Trade.  Also included in Retail Trade are establishments primarily engaged in selling, to the general public, products produced on the same premises from which they are sold, such as bakeries, candy stores, ice cream parlors, and custom tailors.

Tire retreading and rebuilding, sign painting and lettering shops, computer software production, and the production of motion picture films (including video tapes) are classified in Services.  Most repair activities are classified as Services.  However, some repair activity such as shipbuilding and boatbuilding and repair, the rebuilding of machinery and equipment on a factory basis, and machine shop repair are classified as manufacturing.

Abbreviations Used For Index Items

  •  mach.:  Machinery
  •  mfpm:  Made from purchased materials or materials transferred from another establishment
  •  mitse:  Made in the same establishment as the basic materials