Popular sturdy alternative used for manufacturing (8)
I believe the answer is:
industry
'for manufacturing' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'popular sturdy alternative' is the wordplay.
'popular' becomes 'in' ('in' can mean trendy).
'alternative' indicates an anagram (an alternative ordering of the letters).
'sturdy' with letters rearranged gives 'dustry'.
'in'+'dustry'='INDUSTRY'
'used' is the link.
(Other definitions for industry that I've seen before include "Manufacturing enterprises" , "Craft" , "Hard work" , "The manufacture or production of goods" , "Steady application - to manufacturing?" .)