In industry, metal is melted into furnace and cooled to form the solid and the solid metal is mechanically shaped as per design to form a particular object or a structure. The term covers a wide range of work which may be from large ships and bridges to precise engine parts or delicate jewelry.
The manufacturing cycle that converts materials into parts and products starts immediately after the raw materials are either produced from basic chemicals or natural substances or extracted from minerals. Metallic raw materials are generally produced in two steps. Initially, the crude ore is processed to increase the concentration of the desired metal known as beneficiation. Beneficiation processes includes crushing, magnetic separation, flotation, roasting and leaching. Finally, additional processes such as alloying and smelting are used to produce the metal that is to be fabricated into parts that are eventually assembled into a product.