also: まちこうじょう
noun
small local factory; backstreet workshop
Refers to a small-scale manufacturing business located in a residential or mixed-use urban neighborhood, often family-run and specializing in niche production.
この町工場は精密部品を作っている。
This small local factory produces precision parts.
祖父は町工場を営んでいた。
My grandfather ran a small backstreet workshop.
Compound of 町 (town) and 工場 (factory). The reading こうば is a common rendaku-influenced variant of こうじょう in compounds referring to small workshops.