Are you good working with your hands? Do you enjoy building or repairing things and figuring out how pieces may fit together to make something? Do you have a curiosity for creating and like working with a team?
Manufacturing workers work with products and equipment. You might design a new product, decide how the product will be made, or make the product.
Engage in manufacturing activities and you may earn a career badge from the Minnesota State Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence. Credit can be earned for activities such as robotics competitions, summer camps, visiting college campuses, and touring manufacturing facilities. Students who earn the required minimum of 24 badges are eligible to receive a Minnesota Manufactured™ scholarship at the Minnesota State Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence college of their choice! For more information download the Digital Badge Pathway flyer.
Popular Manufacturing Careers
Types of Manufacturing
There are several main types of manufacturing — based on the types of raw materials from which they make products. The careers featured below are major “categories” of the types of positions in manufacturing. But the positions differ slightly based on the type of manufacturer. Learn more about the various types of manufacturing, and then explore career options for all of these within each career category.
Manufacturing with metal is what most people think of first. Making small pieces that fit together in assemblies to create products you see or use every day. Things like snowmobiles, boats, sporting equipment, computers, medical equipment, refrigerators, airplanes, automobiles and hunting rifles & sporting guns.
Plastics are one of the most common materials used for producing parts and products for consumers and commercial industries alike. Everything from packaging for donuts to berries, cell phone cases, paint tray liners, water bottles, kayaks, coolers, medical equipment and more are made from plastic.
Some of the main processes for manufacturing with plastics includes: **** Molding, Extrusion Thermoforming, Injection Molding and Rotational Molding. The type of plastics manufacturing depends on what you want to create.
Industries in the Wood Product Manufacturing sub-sector manufacture wood products, such as lumber, plywood, veneers, wood containers, wood flooring, wood trusses, manufactured homes (i.e., mobile homes), and prefabricated wood buildings. The production processes of the Wood Product Manufacturing subs-ector include sawing, planing, shaping, laminating, and assembling of wood products starting from logs that are cut into bolts, or lumber that then may be further cut, or shaped by lathes or other shaping tools.
Some of the most common rubber manufacturing processes are extrusion, latex dipping, molding, and calendering. … Some of the common rubber products produced from extrusion includes profiles, cord, tubing, and gaskets. Latex dipping occurs when thin walled molds are immersed into latex compounds and then slowly withdrawn.
Food manufacturing encompasses anything that can be eaten, by humans or animals. This could include processing plants for seafood, meat or cheese, or the production and packaging of pet food.
Outside of Central Minnesota, you’ll also find manufacturing industries that involve: clothing, beverages, chemicals (including vaccines and prescriptions), leather, paper and fuel (coal/oil).
Hobbies & Activities related to this industry:
- Skills USA
- Do basic repairs on home appliances or electronics.
- Visit an auto repair shop.
- Job shadow a machinist.
- Explore apprenticeship opportunities with local companies.
- Participate in local STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) events.
Source: Minnesota CAREERwise
Manufacturing Resources
• Manufacturing Careers
• Industries in Manufacturing
• Majors in Manufacturing
• Military options in Manufacturing
Industry Partners
Take this CAREER TOOL survey from the Minnesota State Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence to find out of manufacturing would be right for you.
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