The manufacturing market can cover a broad scope of industries. Companies that produce equipment, components, electrical supplies, televisions or vacuum cleaners all require business forms to run their operation. Custom printed forms may begin in the sales area with quote request, travel log sheets and manufacturing request forms. Once an order is secured there may be order entry documents which may become work orders in the plant areas.

Though many acknowledgments are now electronic, many are still paper-based. If special materials are needed, the manufacturer's purchasing department will need their own quotation forms or material request documents denoting the necessary specifications. The production environment itself may require time sheets, piece tickets, material defect documents, warehouse return labels and product marking labels.

In the shipping department, custom labels may be needed or, in some cases, labels may be incorporated into the production work order documents. The final stage of the manufacturing operation may be the accounting function where invoicing, statements and other paper-based documentation may be used. The key point is that manufacturing requires a wide breadth of documentation.

Naturally, the marketing department is a great potential customer for postcards, packaging inserts and other printed collateral.