Industry Classifications -- NAICS, Manufacturing, and Small Products Assembler I

We discussed the industry classifications used in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) in Submit the Employment Projections for Occupation-Industry for Each Occupation Cited, Why the Equal Distribution Method of Estimating Job Numbers Conflicts with the DOT, and we have discussed industry designations in posts about several different occupations in the past.  Industry classifications form part of the DOT definition of occupations, constitute half of the occupation-industry matrix for the employment projections at the core of the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), and make the whole of the classification system for counting jobs in County Business Patterns (CBP).  The system used by the modern industry classifications is the North American Industry Classification System.

The Census Bureau publishes the 2017 NAICS Manual.  Inside the Manual, we find the industries as classified through negotiation between the United States, Mexico, and Canada.  The U.S. has a committee led by OMB; Mexico and Canada have one agency, each, on this trilateral project.  The Foreword identifies the purpose and scope of NAICS:

Classifications serve as a lens through which to view the data they classify. NAICS is the first industry classification system that was developed in accordance with a single principle of aggregation, the principle that producing units that use similar production processes should be grouped together. NAICS also reflects, in a much more explicit way, the enormous changes in technology and in the growth and diversification of services that have marked recent decades. Though NAICS differs from other industry classification systems, the three countries continue to strive to create industries that do not cross two-digit boundaries of the United Nations’ International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC).

NAICS rests on a structure based on hierarchy.  NAICS codes are expressed in a six-digit format.  The zero-digit is a placeholder, not a differentiating designation.  NAICS 11 or 110000 designate the Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting industry sector.   A third non-zero digit designates the industry subsector; the fourth non-zero digit designates the industry group; the fifth non-zero digit designates the NAICS industry; and the sixth non-zero digit designates the U.S. industry.  When the sixth digit is a zero, the NAICS industry and the U.S. industry are the same.

Vocational experts identify work in the manufacturing sector frequently.  We can use the manufacturing sector as a case study.  The 2017 NAICS structure for the U.S. is summarized:

Sector	Name	Subsectors (3-digit)	Industry Groups (4-digit)	NAICS Industries (5-digit)	6-digit Industries
					U.S. Detail	Same as 5-digit	Total
31-33	Manufacturing	21	86	180	265	95	360

The manufacturing sector is so large in terms of number of industries that it uses three different designations for the first two digits: 31; 32; and 33.  Sector designation 31 includes food and clothing manufacturing subsectors.  Sector designation 32 includes wood, paper, printing, petroleum and coal products, chemical, plastics and rubber, nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing subsectors.  Sector designation 33 includes primary metal; fabricated metal; machinery; computer and electronic; electrical equipment, appliance, and component; transportation equipment; furniture; and miscellaneous manufacturing subsectors.  Sector 31-33 contains 360 discrete industries within those three broad groups.

When we look at the oft-cited production worker DOT occupations (between 1,526 and 1,590 of them), we know that those occupations are part of production workers, all other (SOC 51-9199).  That occupational group represents 263,500 jobs according to the Employment Projections for 2016 and projected 2026.  We can collapse the EP down to just total employment, the manufacturing sector, and the 21 subsectors (excluding those that have no reported data):

	Industry		2016
Line	NAICS	Title	Emp (1000s)	% of industry
1	TE1000	Total employment	263.5	0.2
30	31-330	Manufacturing	113.5	0.9
31	311000	Food manufacturing	13.1	0.8
41	312000	Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing	1.4	0.6
43	313-40	Textile mills and textile product mills	1.3	0.6
45	315-60	Apparel, leather and allied product manufacturing	0.9	0.6
47	321000	Wood product manufacturing	4.6	1.2
51	322000	Paper manufacturing	5.3	1.4
56	325000	Chemical manufacturing	8.7	1.1
64	326000	Plastics and rubber products manufacturing	6.2	0.9
67	327000	Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing	4.9	1.2
73	331000	Primary metal manufacturing	5.6	1.5
79	332000	Fabricated metal product manufacturing	11.9	0.8
91	333000	Machinery manufacturing	7.6	0.7
99	334000	Computer and electronic product manufacturing	3.9	0.4
106	335000	Electrical equipment, appliance, and component manufacturing	4.7	1.2
111	336000	Transportation equipment manufacturing	20.4	1.3
117	337000	Furniture and related product manufacturing	1.6	0.4
123	339000	Miscellaneous manufacturing	7.3	1.0

The headers are tweaked to make the chart fit.  Numbers reported in red are industries in decline.  Line references correspond to the sort number on the EP.

We are now ready to examine small products assembler I (DOT 706.684-022).  Small products assemblers mass produce small products:

such as ball bearings, automobile door locking units, speedometers, condensers, distributors, ignition coils, drafting table subassemblies, or carburetors

Searching through NAICS either in the Manual or the website (the latter is faster), we find:

332991 Ball and Roller Bearing Manufacturing

This U.S. industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing ball and roller bearings of all materials.

332510 Hardware Manufacturing

This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing metal hardware, such as metal hinges, metal handles, keys, and locks (except coin-operated, time locks).

334514 Totalizing Fluid Meter and Counting Device Manufacturing

This U.S. industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing totalizing (i.e., registering) fluid meters and counting devices. Examples of products made by these establishments are gas consumption meters, water consumption meters, parking meters, taxi meters, motor vehicle gauges, and fare collection equipment.

336390 Other Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing

This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing and/or rebuilding motor vehicle parts and accessories (except motor vehicle gasoline engines and engine parts, motor vehicle electrical and electronic equipment, motor vehicle steering and suspension components, motor vehicle brake systems, motor vehicle transmissions and power train parts, motor vehicle seating and interior trim, and motor vehicle stampings).

336320 Motor Vehicle Electrical and Electronic Equipment Manufacturing

This industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing and/or rebuilding electrical and electronic equipment for motor vehicles and internal combustion engines. The products made can be used for all types of transportation equipment (i.e., aircraft, automobiles, trucks, trains, ships) or stationary internal combustion engine applications.

Small products assemblers work in two industries in fabricated metal product manufacturing (332), one industry in computer and electronic product manufacturing (334), and two industries in transportation equipment manufacturing (336).  Those subsectors employ 36,200 production workers, all other.

Our friends at SkillTran report in Job Browser Pro the following industries:

NAICS	Industry	DOTs
334200	Communications equipment manufacturing	22
334400	Semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing	32
334500	Navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instrument manufacturing	83
334600	Manufacturing and reproducing magnetic and optical media	3
335100	Electric lighting equipment manufacturing	18
335200	Household appliance manufacturing	36
335300	Electrical equipment manufacturing	23
335900	Other electrical equipment and component manufacturing	29
336300	Motor vehicle parts manufacturing	29
336400	Aerospace product and parts manufacturing	30
336900	Other transportation equipment manufacturing	12

It is the number of DOT codes within the occupational group that coexist in the industry that reduce the number of jobs available to any one or set of unskilled occupations.  JBP estimates the number of small products assembler I at 927 in the nation.  We must remember that the OOH classifies this occupational group as semi-skilled and that the ORS reports that over 70% of the jobs require medium exertion.

Once we get into the weeds, job numbers gets complicated despite the observation that the number of jobs is a statistical fact that does not vary from case to case dependent on the identity of the vocational expert.