How to find raw materials for manufacturing

Most of you probably already know what manufacturing is, but if you don't manufacturing is when you take raw materials, which are separate materials of a finished product, and put the materials together to form a finished product. When people think of manufacturing they think about having to order numerous parts that they are going to have to put together in an assembly line so that they can obtain a finished product that they can then sell. So while many of you are familiar about the various manufacturing methods what you might not be familiar with is something called green manufacturing. When you think of manufacturing you probably think about huge buildings in the industrial parts of town that are mass producing things such as automobiles and computers. Or you might even think of gas refineries or chemical processing plants. But what many people might not realize is that manufacturing can include making soaps, lotions, shirts, fabric, etc.

Not every product that is manufactured requires the use of raw materials; some manufacturing requires the use of regular materials. Raw materials are materials that are first extracted from the earth and are then divided into a form that can be easily transported and stored. Raw materials are then processed to produce semi-finished materials, these products are then shipped somewhere else to be used. The semi-finished materials are then used in the production of the finishing product which is distributed and sold to consumers around the world. A great example of a raw material is cotton. Cotton is grown from a plant and then picked. Once it is picked it is cleaned and turned into thread, which in turn is changed into cloth (semi-finished material). Once the thread is turned into cloth the cloth is sewn and cut and turned into a garment, such as pants or towels.

As a manufacturer you really don't have a need for raw materials but you do have a need for semi-finished materials, but depending on what you are manufacturing you might need raw materials. Here are some ways that you can get raw and semi-finished materials for your manufacturing.

Tip one:
You can contact companies that collect raw materials, such as rock quarries or other places that collect raw materials. With these companies you are going to have to work out some kind of an arrangement so that you can purchase the raw materials from them directly, but be aware of the fact that they usually deal with large orders, but some of your smaller companies will deal with smaller orders.

Tip two:
You can also contact distributors for the products that you need. A great place to find these distributors is through other people who work in your industry, or you can find them in the phone book, or you can find them online.

Tip three:
Depending on how large your company is you can always collect your own raw materials from a farm or quarry, but obtaining raw materials is better left to other companies, in other words it is a great idea to outsource this aspect of manufacturing because of how expensive it can be.

Tip four:
Being that in most situations you are going to be needing semi-finished materials for your manufacturing you can contact companies that sell these kinds of products directly. These types of companies are known as suppliers. If your suppliers don't carry what you need they can usually put you in touch with other suppliers who can meet your order.

One thing about obtaining raw materials for manufacturing is that not many places sell raw materials so your options for getting them are limited. You might have to contact other countries if the raw materials are not available in the United States.