in various areas of production, a product used in the manufacture of a finished article. In metallurgy, for example, a semifinished product is produced from an ingot as a result of its preliminary processing by rolling in blooming, slabbing, or so-called billet mills. In the footwear industry uppers, fastened together by a thread seam, are semifinished parts prepared for molding (shaping on a last) and fastening to soles.
(also semiproduct), a manufactured article that must go through one or several stages of processing before it becomes a finished article suitable for personal or industrial use. A distinction is made between semifinished products produced within an industrial establishment and those purchased on the outside. The former include all unfinished manufactured articles that are produced in one shop and processed in others, such as ferrous and nonferrous metals, billets and chemical fibers. Purchased semifinished products include articles that are cooperatively delivered, such as casting frames, which are produced at casting plants and purchased by machine-tool plants.