Manufacturing

What is Manufacturing?

The field of manufacturing involves creating new products either from raw materials or from components.  Manufacturing often involves the use of some kind of machinery to create or assemble parts, and it may also involve a lot of work with your hands.  To be part of manufacturing, at least at the higher levels, you’ll need knowledge of how to get the best raw materials and how to process them in order to produce the end product.  You’ll also need to know what to do when the system breaks down.

The pathways that are included in this cluster include those that work developing the processes for manufacturing, those that actually produce the products, and those that maintain and repair the products after they are produced. Some of the jobs in this cluster can be attained with minimal levels of formal education. Most will require at least a high school diploma. Many of the more skilled positions also require the completion of a two-year college program and/or on-the-job training. Of course there are some positions in this cluster (e.g., engineering) that will require the completion of a four-year college program.