Hire a Virtual Operations Manager — Take Back Your Business from $8.50/hr
You started your business to build something. Not to spend your days firefighting process failures, chasing team members for status updates, fixing SOP gaps, and managing the operational overhead that grows faster than your revenue. A virtual operations manager takes that weight off your desk permanently.
At VA MASTERS, we've placed operations VAs and virtual operations managers across agencies, SaaS companies, medical tourism businesses, construction firms, supply chain operations, educational programs, e-commerce brands, and fintech startups. In every case, the result is the same: the founder steps back from the operational grind and the business accelerates because it finally has someone whose full-time job is making everything run correctly.
This isn't a glorified administrative assistant. A virtual operations manager from the Philippines through VA MASTERS is a senior remote professional who owns process design, SOP development, team coordination, vendor management, KPI tracking, and the operational infrastructure that determines whether your business scales cleanly or breaks under its own growth.
What a Virtual Operations Manager Actually Does
A virtual operations manager is a senior remote professional who owns the operational layer of your business — the systems, processes, coordination, and infrastructure that determine whether your team executes consistently or requires constant founder intervention.
This is a fundamentally different role from a general virtual assistant. A general VA completes tasks you assign. A virtual operations manager owns domains: they identify what needs to be done, build the processes that ensure it gets done correctly, manage the people responsible for doing it, and report on whether it's being done to the required standard. They reduce your operational involvement, not just your task volume.
The scope covers three interconnected layers: process design and documentation (SOPs, workflows, quality standards), team and project coordination (keeping everyone aligned, on schedule, and accountable), and operational intelligence (metrics, reporting, bottleneck identification, and continuous improvement). Together, these functions create an operations virtual assistant who runs your business while you build it.
The Founder-Operations Problem This Role Solves
The most expensive bottleneck in any growing business is the founder who is also the operations manager. Every hour they spend managing day-to-day execution is an hour not spent on strategy, client relationships, product development, or growth. A virtual operations manager breaks this bottleneck permanently — absorbing the operational management function entirely so the founder's time scales with revenue, not with headcount.
50+ Operations VA Tasks Your Virtual Manager Handles
Process Design & SOP Development
- Documenting existing processes through team interviews and workflow observation
- Writing clear, step-by-step SOPs for every repeatable business function
- Creating process maps and flow diagrams for complex multi-department workflows
- Identifying process gaps and failure points — building fixes before they become incidents
- Maintaining a living SOP library in Notion, Confluence, Google Drive, or your chosen tool
- Auditing existing SOPs quarterly and updating them as processes evolve
- Creating onboarding documentation for new team members and contractors
- Building quality control checklists for deliverable review across departments
Team Coordination & Project Management
- Managing your project management tool (ClickUp, Asana, Monday.com, Trello, Notion)
- Running daily or weekly team standups — agenda, notes, and follow-up tracking
- Assigning tasks, setting deadlines, and monitoring completion across your team
- Identifying blocked tasks and escalating to the right person for resolution
- Coordinating between departments to ensure handoffs happen correctly
- Managing contractor and freelancer relationships — briefs, deadlines, invoices, and quality review
- Running sprint planning and retrospective processes in Agile teams
- Maintaining project timelines and flagging at-risk deliverables to leadership
- Managing team calendars and scheduling cross-functional meetings
Operational Reporting & KPI Management
- Building and maintaining weekly/monthly operations dashboards
- Tracking KPIs across departments — delivery time, quality scores, capacity utilization, error rates
- Producing weekly operations reports for founders and leadership teams
- Identifying performance trends and flagging anomalies that require attention
- Managing OKR tracking and quarterly goal reporting
- Benchmarking operational metrics against prior periods and targets
- Creating data-backed recommendations for process improvement
Vendor & Supplier Management
- Managing vendor relationships — communication, performance tracking, and issue resolution
- Obtaining and comparing quotes for business services and supplies
- Maintaining vendor databases with contract terms, pricing, and renewal dates
- Coordinating purchase orders, invoicing, and payment workflows
- Managing supplier onboarding and contractual documentation
- Monitoring vendor SLAs and escalating performance issues
Systems, Tools & Workflow Automation
- Evaluating, configuring, and maintaining your operational tool stack
- Building automation workflows in Zapier, Make (Integromat), or your chosen platform
- Integrating business tools — CRM, project management, accounting, communication
- Managing software subscriptions, access controls, and license audits
- Building internal dashboards and reporting systems in Airtable, Notion, or Google Sheets
- Identifying manual tasks that can be automated and building those automations
- Maintaining tool documentation and training team members on new systems
HR Operations & Team Administration
- Managing the hiring process — job posting, candidate screening, interview scheduling
- Coordinating new hire onboarding — equipment, tool access, documentation, training schedule
- Maintaining team records, contract files, and employment documentation
- Running performance review cycles — scheduling, documentation, and follow-up
- Managing leave requests, time tracking, and scheduling conflicts
- Creating and maintaining team org charts and role documentation
Financial Operations Support
- Managing accounts payable and accounts receivable workflows
- Preparing monthly budget reports and variance analysis
- Tracking and categorizing business expenses
- Coordinating with bookkeepers, accountants, and finance teams
- Managing invoice generation and payment follow-up
- Maintaining financial reporting dashboards for operational visibility
VA MASTERS insight on scoping the role: The most important question when briefing an operations manager hire is not "what tasks do I need done" but "what operational domains do I need owned." The difference determines whether you get someone who completes your to-do list or someone who builds and runs the systems that replace your to-do list entirely. We scope this distinction in the discovery call and build the skills test around your specific operational complexity level.
Virtual Assistant vs. Operations Manager: What's the Actual Difference?
This question appears in the GSC data for this page — and it's worth answering directly, because hiring the wrong role produces poor results in either direction.
| Dimension | General Virtual Assistant | Virtual Operations Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Task execution — completes what you assign | Domain ownership — manages functions independently |
| Direction required | High — needs clear task instructions daily | Low — identifies what needs to be done, builds the system to do it |
| Process creation | Follows existing processes | Designs, documents, and improves processes |
| Team management | No team management function | Coordinates teams, contractors, and vendors |
| Reporting | Reports task completion to you | Produces operational intelligence reports for your decision-making |
| Impact on founder time | Reduces specific task burden | Eliminates operational management function from founder's role |
| Best for | Defined, recurring task execution | Scaling businesses that need operational infrastructure and leadership |
| VA MASTERS tier | Administrative & Operations: $6.50–$10/hr | Senior Operations Management: $8.50–$14/hr |
Many VA MASTERS clients start with an operations VA who handles task execution, and graduate to a virtual operations manager as their business scales and the coordination and process ownership requirements grow. We help you scope which model fits your current stage and hire accordingly.
See How VA MASTERS Builds Operational Teams
Virtual Operations Manager for Agencies: Running Client Delivery at Scale
The query "virtual operations manager for agencies" represents one of the highest-value applications of this role. Agency operations have a specific failure mode: as you win more clients, delivery complexity grows faster than your team, the founder becomes the bottleneck for every project decision, and quality starts slipping across accounts simultaneously. A virtual operations manager for agencies breaks this cycle.
What Agency Operations Management Looks Like
Client delivery coordination. Your VOM owns the delivery calendar across all active client accounts — tracking project milestones, coordinating between account managers and delivery teams, flagging at-risk projects before they miss deadlines, and ensuring client-facing communications reflect accurate timelines. This is the function that prevents the expensive emergency calls from clients who weren't warned.
Resource allocation management. As accounts grow and shrink, your team's capacity utilization changes constantly. Your virtual operations manager maintains a capacity view across your team — tracking who is overallocated, who has bandwidth, and what needs to be rebalanced. This visibility prevents both burnout (from chronic overallocation) and missed revenue opportunities (from capacity sitting unused).
SOPs for repeatable service delivery. Every agency has repeatable delivery processes — onboarding a new client, running a monthly SEO report, delivering a creative review, managing a revision cycle. Your VOM documents these as SOPs, trains team members on them, and enforces compliance. The result is consistent quality at scale regardless of which team member is assigned.
Vendor and contractor coordination. Most agencies rely on freelancers and contractors for specialist work. Your operations manager manages these relationships: briefing contractors, tracking deliverables, processing invoices, monitoring quality, and maintaining the contractor roster for fast scaling when new projects land.
Agency tool stack management. Project management, time tracking, reporting, client communication, file management — the typical agency runs 8–12 tools with inconsistent adoption across the team. Your VOM configures tools correctly, establishes usage conventions, trains staff, and maintains the tool governance that keeps client work organized and findable.
Virtual Operations Manager for Supply Chain Teams
Supply chain operations require relentless coordination across vendors, logistics partners, inventory systems, and delivery timelines. The "virtual operations manager for supply chain teams" query reflects a real and growing need: supply chain leaders who need a dedicated coordinator who can manage the information flows, vendor relationships, and reporting functions without requiring a fully localized operations hire.
Supply Chain Operations Your VA Manager Handles
Supplier relationship management. Your VOM maintains the supplier database — contact records, pricing history, SLA terms, contract renewal dates, and performance ratings. They coordinate routine communications, manage purchase orders, track delivery confirmations, and flag supplier performance issues with supporting data.
Inventory coordination and reporting. Your VOM monitors inventory levels across locations, reconciles system records against physical counts, generates reorder alerts at defined thresholds, and produces weekly inventory health reports covering stock velocity, days-of-supply, and overstocking risk. For businesses using ERP systems or inventory management platforms, they manage the data layer directly.
Logistics and freight coordination. Booking and tracking shipments, coordinating with freight forwarders, managing customs documentation checklists, tracking delivery exceptions, and maintaining carrier performance records. Your VOM is the first line of escalation when a shipment is delayed and the person who maintains the relationships that get things resolved faster.
Demand and production planning support. Coordinating between sales forecasts and production capacity, maintaining production schedules, tracking manufacturing milestones, and flagging capacity constraints before they cause delays. For businesses with manufacturing management virtual assistant needs, this coordination function is often the most valuable thing a VOM provides.
Quality control documentation. Maintaining quality inspection records, tracking defect rates by supplier and product line, coordinating corrective action requests, and producing compliance documentation for regulatory or client audit requirements.
Virtual Operations Manager for Construction Projects
Construction businesses have uniquely complex operations: multiple active projects, subcontractor coordination across trades, materials procurement on tight timelines, permit and inspection scheduling, and constant owner-operator firefighting. The "virtual operations manager for construction projects" search reflects business owners who recognize this complexity and are looking for remote support to manage it.
What a Construction Operations VA Manager Owns
Project coordination across active sites. Your VOM maintains project dashboards showing status, upcoming milestones, open issues, and scheduled inspections across all active jobs. They track subcontractor scheduling, coordinate material deliveries with site timelines, and manage the information flow between project managers, subcontractors, and owners.
Subcontractor and vendor administration. Managing subcontractor certificates of insurance, lien waivers, compliance documentation, and payment applications. Coordinating subcontractor scheduling and preventing the double-booking conflicts that cause site delays. Your VOM maintains the administrative layer of subcontractor management so project managers can focus on on-site supervision.
Permit and inspection tracking. Maintaining permit status dashboards, tracking inspection scheduling and results, and coordinating responses to inspection corrections. For businesses managing multiple simultaneous projects with overlapping permit timelines, this administrative coordination function is where significant time is currently being lost.
Change order management. Tracking change order requests, coordinating approval workflows, updating project budgets, and ensuring that approved scope changes are documented and reflected in subcontractor contracts. This is one of the highest-value functions for protecting margin on complex projects.
Daily report and documentation management. Collecting daily site reports, organizing project documentation, managing RFI tracking, and maintaining project file systems. A Filipino VA MASTERS operations manager brings the organizational discipline to keep project records accessible and current — a function that typically gets deferred during active construction.
Virtual Operations Manager for Educational Programs
Educational organizations — online course businesses, tutoring companies, training providers, university programs, and ed-tech startups — face a specific operational challenge: managing learner experiences, instructor coordination, content production schedules, and administrative compliance simultaneously at a scale that outpaces the team's ability to coordinate manually.
A virtual operations manager for educational programs handles: learner enrollment and onboarding workflows, scheduling coordination between instructors and students, content production pipeline management, learning management system (LMS) administration, student progress tracking and reporting, instructor performance coordination, and the administrative compliance requirements that educational programs carry.
For online course businesses specifically, the operations function includes launch coordination (managing the production and marketing timelines for new course releases), cohort management (coordinating student access, group assignments, and progression tracking), community moderation oversight, and the support ticket management that keeps learners engaged and satisfied.
Manufacturing Management Virtual Assistant: Coordinating Production Without the Overhead
Manufacturing businesses searching for a manufacturing management virtual assistant have a specific need: they can't afford to add full-time operations headcount for the coordination and reporting functions that keep production running, but they're drowning in the administrative overhead that those functions generate daily.
A VA MASTERS manufacturing operations manager handles production scheduling coordination, bill of materials (BOM) management, supplier purchase order tracking, quality control documentation, production KPI reporting, workforce scheduling support, and the information management functions that keep manufacturing operations visible and controllable without requiring the founder to manually assemble the picture every morning.
The key advantage of a Filipino manufacturing management VA is their familiarity with the coordination tools manufacturing teams use: ERP systems (SAP, NetSuite, Odoo), production management platforms (Fishbowl, MRPeasy), quality management systems, and the standard reporting frameworks (OEE, DPMO, cycle time analysis) that manufacturing leaders use to manage performance.
"VA Masters helped us map out our processes and routines, identifying tasks that could be outsourced to optimize our workflow. Hiring four Virtual Assistants for administrative tasks, operations, customer support, and social media allowed us to streamline daily operations without losing control or quality. The cost savings have been significant — over 30% in administrative and operational expenses. Having all HR aspects managed for us made the transition seamless."
Pricing: What Does a Virtual Operations Manager Cost?
Virtual operations managers and operations VAs through VA MASTERS are priced under our Administrative & Operations Support tier, with senior operations management roles reflecting the higher complexity, seniority, and business judgment required.
Entry-to-mid level operations VAs (task execution, project coordination support) start at $6.50–$8.50/hr. Senior virtual operations managers capable of full process design, team management, and strategic operational support range from $8.50–$14/hr depending on complexity. At full-time hours, this is $1,360–$2,240/month versus $7,000–$12,000+ for an equivalent US operations manager salary and overhead.
Without a Virtual Operations Manager
- Founder acting as operations manager at $200+/hr opportunity cost
- No documented SOPs — institutional knowledge locked in people's heads
- Projects managed by Slack messages, email threads, and hope
- No operational reporting — leadership flying blind on business health
- Vendor management ad hoc — invoices missed, renewals forgotten
- Team coordination failures causing client delivery problems
- Revenue growth capped by operational complexity, not market demand
With a VA MASTERS Virtual Operations Manager
- Founder focused on strategy, clients, and growth — not daily operations
- Complete SOP library documenting every repeatable business function
- Project management tool owned and maintained — team coordinated, tasks tracked
- Weekly operations report every Friday — full visibility, zero effort from leadership
- Vendor relationships managed, invoices tracked, renewals flagged in advance
- Operational delivery consistent regardless of team changes or growth
- Up to 80% savings vs. local operations management hire
VA MASTERS' 6-Stage Recruitment Process for Virtual Operations Managers
Operations Discovery & Role Scoping
We start by understanding your business model, your current operational pain points, your team size, the tools you use, and what "running correctly" looks like for your specific operation. This brief determines whether you need a generalist operations coordinator or a senior virtual operations manager, and shapes the skills test accordingly.
Targeted Talent Sourcing
We source from LinkedIn, OnlineJobs.ph, our internal operations management talent network, and direct outreach to 1,000+ candidates. We filter for genuine operations management experience, tool proficiency, English communication quality, and the seniority level your business requires.
Initial Screening
We screen CVs for real operations management experience — process design, team coordination, reporting, and tool configuration — not just administrative or task-execution backgrounds presented as operations management. This distinction matters significantly in this role.
Custom Operations Skills Test
Candidates complete a practical operations assessment: writing an SOP from a process description, building a project tracking structure for a defined scenario, identifying operational failures in a case study and proposing remediation, and demonstrating proficiency in your primary project management tool. We test judgment and systems thinking, not just task execution.
In-Depth Interview & Leadership Assessment
We assess how candidates handle ambiguity, how they communicate operational issues to non-technical stakeholders, how they prioritize competing urgent needs, and whether they have the proactivity and ownership mentality that distinguishes a virtual operations manager from a virtual administrator.
You Interview the Top 2–3 Candidates
You receive skills-tested finalists whose test outputs are visible before the interview. You're evaluating cultural fit and communication quality — the operational competence has already been verified. Most clients hire within 2 business days of receiving candidates.
Ready to get operations off your plate for good?
Tell us your business model, your team size, and what's currently eating your time. We'll match you with a virtual operations manager built for your specific operational complexity.
Book a Free Discovery Call →Common Mistakes When Hiring a Virtual Operations Manager
Mistake 1: Hiring an Administrative VA and Calling Them an Operations Manager
The title "operations manager" requires the operational management capabilities — process design, team coordination, reporting, and systems thinking — that most administrative VAs don't have. Using an administrative VA in an operations management role produces the worst of both: a VA who can't execute operational management work, and an ops management vacancy that's technically filled but not performing. VA MASTERS tests specifically for operations management competence, not general VA capability.
Mistake 2: No Current State Documentation Before Onboarding
A virtual operations manager can build your systems from scratch — but they need to understand your current state first. The most common onboarding failure is starting a VOM without giving them access to existing process documentation, tool configurations, and current team workflows. Even incomplete documentation is better than none: it gives your VOM a baseline to improve rather than a blank sheet to fill.
Mistake 3: Expecting Full Autonomy in Week One
Even an exceptionally capable virtual operations manager needs 4–8 weeks to build enough context to operate fully independently. They need to understand your business model, your team's working style, your client relationships, and your operational priorities before they can make good independent decisions. Invest 3–5 hours per week in weeks 1–4 for briefing, feedback, and context-sharing. This investment determines everything that follows.
Mistake 4: Not Defining What Success Looks Like
Operations management is a broad function. Without defining your 30/60/90 day priorities, your VOM will optimize for what's most visible, not what's most impactful. Before they start, define your top three operational problems and what a successful resolution of each looks like. This focus dramatically accelerates time-to-impact in the first 90 days.
Mistake 5: Keeping Them Out of Team Communications
A virtual operations manager who doesn't have visibility into team Slack channels, project management tools, and operational data can't identify the problems they're supposed to solve. Grant full operational visibility on day one. The instinct to limit access protects nothing and prevents the operations manager from doing their job. Restricted access is the primary reason otherwise capable VOMs underperform.
VA MASTERS vs. Other Options for Virtual Operations Management
| Factor | VA MASTERS | Upwork / Job Board | Operations Consultant | In-House US Ops Manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operations skills test before hire | ✓ Custom SOP + systems test | ✗ Resume only | Partial | Partial — interview only |
| Dedicated full-time to YOUR operations | ✓ | Often split across clients | ✗ Part-time engagement | ✓ |
| HR, payroll, support managed | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Replacement guarantee | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Monthly cost (full-time) | ✓ $1,360–$2,240 | $1,500–$4,000+ | $5,000–$15,000/project | $7,000–$12,000+ |
| No upfront fee to start | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| SOP & onboarding support | ✓ | ✗ | Partial | ✗ |
What Our Clients Say
Real Messages From Real Clients
The Operations Managers Behind Your Business Systems
Happy VAs who are well-matched to their roles and supported by VA MASTERS deliver consistently better operational outcomes — every week, across every function they own.
As Featured In
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a virtual operations manager do?
A virtual operations manager owns the operational layer of your business: designing and documenting processes (SOPs), coordinating teams and projects, managing vendors and contractors, producing operational KPI reports, configuring and maintaining your business tool stack, and building the systems that allow your business to scale without requiring constant founder involvement. They are distinct from a general virtual assistant in that they own operational domains rather than executing assigned tasks.
How is a virtual operations manager different from a virtual assistant?
A general virtual assistant completes tasks you assign. A virtual operations manager identifies what needs to be done, builds the systems to do it, manages the people responsible for it, and reports on whether it's being done correctly. The direction required is fundamentally different: a VA needs clear task instructions daily; a virtual operations manager needs clear goals and the authority to build the processes that achieve them.
How much does it cost to hire an operations VA in the Philippines?
Through VA MASTERS, operations VAs are priced at $6.50–$10/hr for task execution and coordination roles, and $8.50–$14/hr for senior virtual operations managers capable of process design, team management, and strategic operational support. At full-time hours (160/month), this is $1,360–$2,240/month versus $7,000–$12,000+ for an equivalent US operations manager including salary and overhead. Savings of up to 80%.
Can a virtual operations manager run my agency's client delivery?
Yes. VA MASTERS places virtual operations managers specifically for agency client delivery — coordinating project timelines across accounts, managing capacity allocation, building and enforcing delivery SOPs, coordinating contractors, and managing the tool stack that keeps client work organized. This is one of the highest-value applications of the virtual operations manager model: freeing agency founders from delivery management so they can focus on growth.
Can a VA MASTERS operations manager handle supply chain coordination?
Yes. Our operations VAs handle supplier relationship management, inventory monitoring and reporting, logistics coordination, purchase order tracking, and quality control documentation for supply chain businesses. For roles requiring familiarity with specific ERP or supply chain management platforms, we build those tool requirements into the skills test and screen candidates accordingly.
What tools does a virtual operations manager typically use?
Common tools include ClickUp, Asana, Monday.com, Trello, and Notion for project management; Slack and Teams for team communication; Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 for documentation; Zapier and Make for workflow automation; Airtable and Google Sheets for operational dashboards; and industry-specific platforms depending on your sector (ERP systems, construction management software, LMS platforms, CRMs, etc.). We screen for your specific tool stack and verify proficiency through the skills test.
How do I set up a virtual operations manager for success?
The four highest-impact onboarding investments: grant full operational visibility (team Slack, project management tool, reporting dashboards) on day one; share all existing process documentation, even if incomplete; define your top three operational priorities for the first 90 days; and invest 3–5 hours per week in weeks 1–4 for briefing, feedback, and context-sharing. Clients who make this investment consistently see their VOM operating largely autonomously by month 2.
Can a virtual operations manager help with construction project coordination?
Yes. VA MASTERS operations managers handle construction project administration including project status dashboards, subcontractor scheduling and documentation, permit and inspection tracking, change order management, and daily report organization. For construction roles, we scope the skills test around your specific coordination tools and project management framework.
What is a manufacturing management virtual assistant?
A manufacturing management virtual assistant is an operations VA who handles the coordination and reporting functions of manufacturing operations: production scheduling coordination, BOM management, supplier purchase order tracking, quality control documentation, production KPI reporting, and workforce scheduling support. They manage the information and coordination layer of manufacturing without requiring a full-time on-site operations coordinator.
Can a virtual operations manager help with educational program administration?
Yes. VA MASTERS operations managers handle educational program administration including learner enrollment and onboarding workflows, instructor and student scheduling, LMS administration, content production pipeline management, student progress tracking, and administrative compliance documentation. For online course businesses and training providers, this operational support often allows program founders to focus on curriculum development and marketing rather than administrative management.
How quickly can a virtual operations manager start?
Most clients receive their top 2–3 vetted, skills-tested candidates within 2 business days of the recruitment process starting. The full journey from discovery call to placed candidate typically takes under a week. Once hired, your VOM can typically begin within 3–5 business days after agreement signing, with VA MASTERS providing onboarding support and process documentation guidance to structure the transition effectively.
What happens if the virtual operations manager doesn't work out?
VA MASTERS provides ongoing performance monitoring, operational check-ins, and management support throughout the engagement. If performance issues arise, our team intervenes directly. If a VOM isn't the right fit despite these interventions, we initiate replacement recruitment at no additional cost. For operations roles specifically, we can also help structure the performance feedback and scope recalibration that often resolves output issues before they become placement issues.
Stop Managing Operations. Start Building the Business.
A virtual operations manager owns your processes, coordinates your team, manages your vendors, and keeps your business running — so you can focus on growth strategy, clients, and the work only you can do.
- Custom operations skills test — SOP writing, systems thinking, tool proficiency verified
- No recruitment fee — pay only when you're satisfied with your candidate
- Candidates delivered within 2 business days
- Covers all industries: agencies, supply chain, construction, manufacturing, education, fintech
- Up to 80% savings vs. local operations management hire
Book a free discovery call and we’ll map out exactly how a virtual assistant can save you time, cut costs, and help your business grow. No commitment required.
Connect with our experts to:
- Identify which roles you can outsource immediately
- Get a custom cost savings estimate for your business
- Learn how our 6-stage recruitment process works
- See real examples of VAs in your industry