MANUFACTURING / PRODUCTION / DISCRETE / JOB-SHOP
Discrete / job-shop manufacturing
10 markets · make-to-order · structurally identical to Physical Services
AVG S1
4.3%
leader share
AVG CR3
9.6%
weighted 10.3%
AVG HHI
62
Unconcentrated
AVG REV/EMP
$304K
leader avg
AVG SG&A %
19%
of revenue (leader avg)
MARKETS
9
in category
The core thesis bet. Discrete manufacturing looks like a different sector than physical services in the tax code, but structurally they are the same: make-to-order, local/regional, labor-intensive, with quoting, scheduling, and sales as the binding constraints. Machine shops have the most fragmented structure in the entire dataset — S1 = 0.5%. If the AI compression hypothesis is right, these markets should consolidate along the same trajectory as software, only compressed into 10 years instead of 30.
Markets ranked by S1 (click bar for calculation breakdown)
S1 vs CR3 structure map
Bottom-left = fragmented. Top-right = concentrated. Click dot for calculation →
Historical trends — key markets in Manufacturing / Production
5 representative markets. Solid = S1 (leader share), dashed = CR3 (top 3 share).
Metrics:Y-Axis:
Manufacturing / Production: Concentration Over Time
How concentrated is the average manufacturing / production market? Solid = CR3 (top 3 share), dotted = S1 (leader share).
Metrics:Y-Axis:
What this shows: The solid line is CR3 — the average combined market share of the top 3 companies across 9 manufacturing / production markets. The dotted line is S1 — the average share of the #1 company alone. Data spans 1960–2025. Markets included: Machine Shops / Precision, Metal Fabrication, Ready-Mix Concrete, Printing & Related, Food Processing, Building Products, Furniture Manufacturing, Textiles & Apparel (US), Medical Devices (commodity).
All markets (9) — click any row for detail
MARKETLEADERS1CR3REV/EMPSG&ASIZE
Furniture Manufacturing
Discrete / Job-Shop · ~24,000 establishments (NAICS 337) firms
Ashley Furniture
10.7%
19.8%
$380K
22%
$75B
Ready-Mix Concrete
Discrete / Job-Shop · 2,500+ firms
CRH
6.0%
15.0%
$380K
22%
$32B
Medical Devices (commodity)
Discrete / Job-Shop · 6,000+ firms
Medline
5.0%
12.0%
$420K
25%
$180B
Building Products
Discrete / Job-Shop · Highly fragmented across sub-categories; top-3 cross-category by revenue firms
Mohawk Industries
4.8%
10.3%
$320K
19%
$100B
Printing & Related
Discrete / Job-Shop · 25,000+ firms
RR Donnelley
4.0%
8.0%
$280K
13%
$80B
Food Processing
Discrete / Job-Shop · 20,000+ firms
Tyson Foods
4.0%
10.5%
$440K
4%
$950B
Textiles & Apparel (US)
Discrete / Job-Shop · ~30,000 globally (textile + apparel manufacturing); thousands of small operators dominate firms
VF Corporation
3.0%
7.4%
$180K
34%
$30B
Metal Fabrication
Discrete / Job-Shop · 15,000+ firms
Various
1.0%
2.5%
$180K
14%
$68B
Machine Shops / Precision
Discrete / Job-Shop · 21,600+ firms
Various (no national leader)
0.5%
1.2%
$160K
15%
$55B
Data vintage: FY 2024 / FY 2025 · Next refresh: Q3 2026 (mid-FY26 10-Ks)
Source Quality Hierarchy
Every market has a primary source plus 1–3 validation sources. Revenue numerators come from SEC 10-K filings; denominators validated against the Economic Census where available.
TIER 1Authoritative anchorsGovernment data + SEC filings
US Economic Census (data.census.gov) · SEC EDGAR / Company 10-Ks · BEA Industry Value-Added (FRED) · BLS QCEW · USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries · EIA Refinery Capacity Report · FDA device listings
TIER 2Leading commercial trackersIndustry-standard paid trackers
IDC Semiannual Software Tracker · Gartner Market Share & Magic Quadrant · IBISWorld NAICS reports · StatCounter Global Stats · eMarketer / Insider Intelligence · Synergy Research Group
TIER 3Category specialistsBest-in-class niche authorities
SIPRI (aerospace & defense) · IQVIA (pharma) · TrendForce (semiconductors) · CIMdata (CAD/PLM) · Nilson Report (payments) · Am Law 100 (legal) · ENR Top 500 (A&E) · AM Best (insurance) · SIA (staffing) · Ad Age (agencies) · Barron's / Cerulli (wealth) · Evaluate MedTech · Nielsen Gauge (streaming) · Gridwise (ride-hail) · Bloomberg Second Measure (delivery) · RC Top 100 (roofing) · SDM Top 100 (fire/safety) · Big 4 annual reports · ALM Intelligence (consulting)
Data vintage: Q2 2025 research compilation. Labels updated 2026-Q2. Tier 1 sources refreshed from FY2025 SEC filings where available. For full methodology see the Methodology page.