There are many different ways for a firm to produce goods for customer purchase. Two primary mechanisms are assembling which involves taking individual component materials and putting them together to produce a finished product, and manufacturing which involves taking raw materials and creating either components or finished products. Every production process requires a list of inputs called a , which identifies all of the materials or parts needed to make one unit of a finished product. The process by which a company takes new ideas and brings them to market is called . Companies perform market research, build prototypes, and invent new production techniques as part of this process. A visual representation of the product and its components which accompanies this process is called an