What is the difference between assembly only and outsource manufacturing?

Answer 1

In both cases we are referring to the action of taking component parts and combining them together to physical product.

My suggestion is that the difference relates to the level and type of transformation.

Assembly refers very specifically to the physical integration of component parts. It can be aided by the use of equipment but can also take place without it. Equipment simply automates or speeds up the rate of assembly.

Manufacturing can also refer to this but may also include other processes such as transformation through heating or compressing.

These other processes would require specialized equipment and could not be performed manually.

Just the difference between making a salad and making a cake ... you would assemble a salad but would manufacture a cake ;-).

Another way to imagine the distinction is to take a supply chain view.

In a typical supply chain assembly would take place towards the end of the chain taking various sub-assemblies and then combining these into a finished good.

Following this logic, manufacturing would refer to the activity that takes place before this - whereby factories specializing in certain product types (like batteries or chips) build those sub-assemblies.

So ... In both cases we are referring to the action of taking component parts and combining them together to physical product.

And ... My suggestion is that the difference relates to the level and type of transformation.

If you want to go nuts you can also argue assembly is a subset of the broader notion of manufacturing.

But watch out - these are business terms - and the golden rule of business language is that there is generally not commonly understood definitions and so correspondingly - don't be too pedantic :-).