It has long had an unfairly tough reputation whether that’s as men’s work for hard men, or suffering under the ill-informed and all-too-easy tag of being “in decline”.
So whisper it gently, but manufacturing seems to be having a better time of it.
Contrary to popular belief, neither UK PLC nor Scotland Inc have given up all of their manufacturing industries and shipped them off to the Continent or the Far East over the last 30 years.
We’re still making things; usually in hugely high-tech but externally pretty nondescript industrial estates all over the country.
Today, it’s suggested that as many as 2 million people work in manufacturing in Britain.
Workforces may have been decimated by offshoring and technological advancement, but that’s a lot of families being supported by people making things.
Actually, we make a lot of things. Figures from the House of Commons library show the total value of UK manufactured exports in 2011 reached $233 billion enough for a seventh-place finish in the international league table.
And, as it happens, it might be manufacturing which helps our economy dig itself out of the mess it has got itself in.
Twice in the last two weeks we have seen words of praise for the manufacturing industry in some of the most closely-watched economic studies.
First of all, the Bank of Scotland’s purchasing managers’ index spotted a “notable” increase in output from the manufacturing sector during April.
That is just the latest time the bank’s research has reported on an industry in good fettle during the opening months of this year.
It said that growth was tempered slightly by acceleration in costs and average output prices, but both of these factors could in themselves be taken to speak of greater demand from an industry on the up.
And earlier this week there was more good news, with a study finding manufacturers’ confidence had been boosted by growth in export orders.
“Stellar” growth in the expectations of company bosses helped BDO’s business trends survey to the highest measure of optimism in its 22-year history.
“High-growth expectations among manufacturers are a key highlight of this phase of the recovery, with a stronger manufacturing sector set to benefit Scotland in the long term by rebalancing our economy away from London and the City,” said the company’s Martin Gill.
BDO’s research said an improvement in fortunes in the economies of the eurozone was the root cause of this outbreak of cheerfulness.
Reports have also suggested that the UK is now the cheapest place to manufacture in Western Europe, thanks to a decade of improvements in productivity and competitiveness, and the prestige that comes with the ‘Made in Britain’ or ‘Made in Scotland’ tag.
It is all bound to be welcomed by Government, which has long pushed for a “rebalancing” of Britain’s economy.
It could also lead more firms to reassess their global operations and “reshore” back to the UK.
But the fact is and the same House of Commons statistics I referred to earlier demonstrate this UK manufacturing has never really been in decline.
The economic value of its output has stayed pretty much constant since the 1970s bar the odd wobble here and there, despite offshoring of heavy industry and painful job losses.
The real change has been colossal growth in a services industry which has come to totally dominate our economy.
Now the boot is on the other foot and it’s the manufacturers who seem to be dragging us out of the mire.
It won’t be easy no doubt there will be bumps on the road but it looks like we could well come to find a new appreciation for all those people who are (still) making things.