Production work encompasses many different trades, from food preparation and assembly line work to woodworking and photograph processing. While some production trades, such as assembly, will grow more slowly than average due to automation and other factors, some fields, such as tool and die making, will still offer excellent prospects for good employees.

Sometimes workers in the field of skilled and production trades will transfer to inspection and testing of machinery, and other quality control fields. Other production occupations include jewelers, glass workers, medical laboratory technicians, printers, and woodworkers.

The production trades, as has been demonstrated, are very diverse. They require a wide range of different talents and training. In other words, there really are a wide range of different opportunities for people who have an interest in the production trades.

Educational Requirements

Requirements for education in crafting and production trades ranges from completion of high school to long-term apprenticeship programs. For instance, the tool and die maker will spend four to five years in a combination of classroom and on-the-job training, while a bindery technician in a printing company will need only hands-on training on particular machines.

As the trades become more automated, employers will need workers who control and operate the production machinery. Most of this work will be done by computers, and many employees who have experience in the production and skilled trades may choose a new apprenticeship program to learn operation and control of the computers. There are also programs available in secondary and vocational schools, as well as community colleges.

If you are interested in a career in the production trades, you will want to make sure that you do have the requisite training and education -- or have the ability to obtain such training and education in a reasonable period of time so that you can take advantage of a position in the production trades.