Joining—the process used to bring separate parts or components together to produce a
unified whole assembly or structural entity—is at once the most ubiquitous, least
understood, yet no less appreciated of all processes used in manufacturing. This may
be because joining is often one of the last processes to be used in a complex product’s
manufacturing, following part shaping by casting, rolling, drawing, extrusion, forging,
forming, machining, and powder compacting. In construction where joining occurs
throughout the process to create the desired structure, joining is still generally underappreciated.
Even in medicine—joining for the purpose of wound or surgical incision
closure or repairing a bone fracture—the process is generally taken for granted.