The machinery industry is a part of the manufacturing sector that’s dedicated to the production of equipment and parts that automate a variety of processes. This industry is vital to many aspects of all types of manufacturing and serves many manufacturers, service providers, and other industrial companies by producing and servicing different types of machinery.
For much of the industrial age, the machinery industry served what’s commonly referred to as heavy industry by creating the equipment that populates factories, machine shops, and also powers means of production used in agricultural, mining, and construction industries. Today, the machinery industry still serves these sectors along with what’s known as light industry.
Light industry utilizes equipment that may be more compact and scaled-down. This type of equipment is more closely related to appliances that might be used around the house, but it is catered to certain industrial and business-oriented requirements. Light industrial machinery can also include equipment that tends to use less energy and handles lighter materials.
Manufacturing Equipment
Manufacturing equipment is machinery that automates or reduces the physical demands of various tasks. It includes machinery that might complete just one function, such as heating liquid until it reaches a certain temperature, or it may be far more complex and multifaceted, such as a CNC machine that can create a finished part from a raw material workpiece.
Manufacturing equipment is found in many factories, workshops, and production floors. The primary purposes of this equipment are to reduce labor requirements, gain more consistent results, and improve the speed of output. Manufacturing equipment is also employed to improve safety, as machinery can be used to perform tasks that would otherwise be hazardous to complete by hand.
Although a lot of manufacturing equipment is now used to perform jobs that were once completed by hand or with much simpler tools, some manufacturing equipment allows for production that would have been physically impossible for even the most skilled human to easily complete. An example of this is precision cutting machinery, which can perform ultra-precise and detailed modifications on materials that are extremely tough or extremely delicate.
Equipment Manufacturers
Equipment manufacturers specialize in the design and manufacture of machinery. Depending on the manufacturer, this may be equipment of a certain type, or it may include various equipment that’s in-demand by a certain industry.
For example, many heavy equipment manufacturers will focus on the design and building of machinery needed by the construction industry. These heavy equipment manufacturers will make construction equipment that performs many functions and to unique specifications required by that industry.
Other types of equipment manufacturers may produce equipment that performs just one or a few functions, such as an electric motor, that they then modify for various industries and end applications.
Machinery Parts Manufacturer
A machinery parts manufacturer has an important role to play in the machinery industry. Even the largest equipment manufacturers with extensive production capabilities will often work with independent parts manufacturers to create the components they require.
Depending on the complexity of the machinery, a machinery parts manufacturer may be producing very simple components, such as a gear, shim, or washer that is specially made to the requirements of the equipment manufacturer. Other machinery parts manufacturers may be producing components that are a great deal more complex, such as semiconductors, processors, and sensors.
The machinery parts manufacturer is just as vital to the machinery industry as the machinery industry is to modern manufacturing overall.
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