Manufacturing and shipping. Manufacturing is the process of making products. There are many different industries, areas of activity that manufacture products. Here are a few examples. The automotive industry makes cars, trucks, motor cycles, and other vehicles. The electronics industry makes devices that use electricity such as TVs, cell phones, etc. The lumber industry produces wood and the coal, gas, and petroleum industries extract fuel from the earth and process it so that it can be used to produce energy. The pharmaceutical industry researches and produces new medicines. The textile industry makes fabric that can be used in the clothing or apparel industry to make clothes. The creation of a new product often begins with R&D, research and development. The engineers and product designers will often make a prototype, an early version of the product that can be tested, studied, and later copied to produce more products.

The new product will be tested in order to discover any bugs, small problems in systems. When the manufacturer is ready to begin large-scale production, making a very large number of products, it buys raw materials from a supplier. The term raw materials means unprocessed material like metal or plastic before it becomes part of a product. The place where the raw materials are transformed into finished products is called a factory. In the past, people would do most of the work in making the products, but nowadays much of the process is automated with machines and robots. The sequence where the products are put together can be called the assembly line or production line. It's common to talk about the capacity of a machine or a factory, meaning how many units it is able to produce per hour or per day. The number of units it actually produces is called the output.

When the company is ready to put a new product on the market, we call that event a roll-out or launch and companies often do extra advertising or special promotions to draw attention to the new product. Companies try to innovate and create cutting-edge products, meaning products that are very modern and advanced. Sometimes they make a breakthrough, meaning they suddenly overcome an obstacle or make a great advance. When a unique product technology or design is invented, it's a good idea to patent it. The word patent refers to officially registering the invention so that only you or your company has the right to produce it. Eventually older products become obsolete, meaning they are out of date and not really used anymore.

Occasionally after the product is released to the public, a serious defect, problem or weakness in the product is discovered. If the defect is dangerous, the manufacturer might recall the item, meaning they ask people who bought the product to return it for repair or refund. The manufacturer might use a distributor to send the finished products to the retailers, the stores where customers buy the products. We'll learn more about retail in the next lesson.

The process of transporting products from one place to another is called shipping. Products can be shipped by air, by sea, or by ground transport such as trains and trucks. The collection of items on the plane, ship, train or truck can be called the cargo or freight. The items can be placed on flat structures called pallets which can be lifted by a fork lift. On large ships, products are usually placed in containers and these are very heavy so they are lifted by a crane. It's important to secure the products and containers, make sure they are firmly held in position so that they do not break or move around inside the vehicle.

Bringing products into a country is called importing products and sending products out of a country is called exporting products. When products are crossing an international border, a dividing line between countries, they must be declared at customs, meaning a list of items must be presented to government officials. There may be a tariff or duty, that's a special tax that needs to be paid. After clearing customs, passing through customs successfully, the products can enter the country. They may be stored in a warehouse, that's a building specifically for keeping things until they are ready to be sold. That's it for lesson 25. Now you can take the quiz to practice and review the vocabulary.

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