Raw materials are unrefined materials used to create manufactured items, including timber, ore, crude oil, plastics, and chemicals. The definition has expanded to include heavily processed materials and even fully formed products purchased from outside. The definition varies widely from industry to industry.
Crafting raw materials are the materials used to create manufactured items. In most cases, these items are raw, unrefined materials that are processed within the production system. This would cover items such as timber, ore and crude oil products. Many industries expand the definition to include other base materials such as wrought metals, plastics, chemical blends, and other essential products. Some companies also refer to any pieces used within their system as production raw materials.
The basic definition of raw material production varies widely from industry to industry. In its simplest form, these are the input materials used to create other items – from there, the exact definition changes. The historical definition was basic natural materials, but that was before modern manufacturing and plastics took many companies away from natural resources. The focus then shifted to a wide range of products that aren’t useful on their own, only when transformed into something else.
From the point of view of natural materials, the production of raw materials is a very small group of things. The biggest restriction is the level of processing the material has undergone. For example, lumber that is still in basic tree form or has been processed into basic shapes is fine, but any lumber that has been subjected to sealing, pressure treatment, or similar processing is beyond a raw material. The same goes for ore, it can be separated from rock and prepared for transportation, but any refinement, shaping, or purification renders it not a raw material.
As processes have changed, so has the definition of what raw material manufacturing was and was not. Some heavily processed materials were added to the list, which were practically useless on their own but were vital in many processes. This included older materials that had undergone more processing, such as treated lumber, metal rods, or refined oil. Furthermore, glass, plastics and chemical mixtures such as acids or solvents have become raw materials. This even includes high-tech materials, like silicon, that had very little use during the days of the original definition.
Whether it’s due to language differences, ongoing technological advancement, or simply the passage of time, the definition of commodity manufacturing is broader than ever in the modern day. Now, many companies call everything that is purchased from outside raw material. This means that a company that purchases screws to assemble its product can call the fully formed screw a raw material. This vague definition means that a raw material in one company can be radically different from another. For example, one company calls the screws raw, but the company that actually makes them wouldn’t use that term.
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