The concept of manufacturing appears in the Old Regime and is often complicated because it is confused with that of the factory, without taking into account that each concept refers to a different reality. Manufacturing is the form of production characterized by the concentration of a large number of workers in an establishment where they perform their tasks manually and following certain specialized guidelines.
This specialization occurs in two different ways:
- bringing together artisans from different trades (carpenters, locksmiths,...) but who manufacture the same type of product, for example floats.
- bringing together artisans of the same trade who divide the work into specialized operations by dividing tasks.
It is, therefore, an intermediate form of production between the medieval craft workshop and the typical factory of the Industrial Revolution. The main economic repercussion of its implementation was a certain expansion of production derived both from specialization and the division of labor as well as from the increase in workers involved in manufacturing tasks.
In the Spanish case, and also in other European countries, this production model was promoted mainly by the monarchs, influenced by the ideas of progress and modernization typical of the Enlightenment. The vast majority of manufactures were dedicated to producing luxury goods or weapons, with the State and the nobility as their main clients.
The movie Carmen (2003) by Vicente Aranda shows in some scenes the way of working in these establishments, specifically in the Royal Tobacco Factory in Seville. The presence of women in this establishment was already consolidated in the 19th century.