Crafts, Maneuvering
Noun and する verb
こうさく
工作はとくいではありません。
Handicraft is not my strong point.
アリバイ工作にしっぱいした。
I failed to set up a reasonable alibi.
私は小学生の頃、夏休みの自由工作の宿題で、アイスクリームを作る機械を作った。
When I was in elementary school, I made a machine that makes ice cream for my school craft project over summer break.
What is the "industry of make"? Well, it's when you industriously make things, obviously. That can only be handicraft or crafts! This can also mean maneuvering, in the sense of pulling strings behind the scenes.
This is a jukugo word, which usually means on'yomi readings from the kanji. If you know the readings of your kanji you'll know how to read this as well.