The factory is ... The importance of factories for the economy and the history of their appearance

The article describes what a factory is when the first such enterprises were created and what is their advantage over manual labor.

Ancient times

At all times people have realized the importance of crafts. After all, it's much easier to buy or order a product than to spend months, and even years, to master the skills of its production. In any society, tribe or community, there were always those who were engaged in one thing, giving, for example, sewing boots most of the time, without being distracted by everything else. Such people were called artisans.

But with the development of society and the growth of the total population of the Earth, people began to consume far more different goods, including food. And it was very difficult to meet the needs of all with the help of small handicraft shops. In addition, the more expensive a particular product, the more time and effort it takes to produce it. And all this gradually led to the emergence of factories. This is a natural process, in which the development of technology and the first electronics played a large role. And, by the way, the appearance of such a production phenomenon as a factory is one of the signs of an industrial revolution in the 18th-19th centuries. But first things first.

Definition

The word is derived from the Latin language and in the original sounds like fabrica, which means "plant" or "workshop". Now we will analyze in more detail what it is.

A factory is an enterprise of industrial quality, whose work is based on the use of machines for more productive and qualitative work. Most often, the factory complex consists of several buildings, each of which is engaged in its production stage or type of products. Also (but not necessarily) in the factory there are warehousing rooms and offices of the manager. So the factory is an industrial enterprise, whose work is clearly established. The real flowering of such enterprises occurred in the middle of the XIX century, when many manual labor processes were replaced by automatic machines.

But this term is most often used in relation to light or mining industries, for example, a furniture factory, or a knitting factory. And in other areas usually use the word "plant". In the event that a group of factories and other production enterprises are united by a common territory and management, they are called the combine. For example, an enrichment plant.

History

The factory is one of those manifestations of the technical and industrial revolution, which greatly influenced the world and changed it. The flowering of fully or partially automated production quickly replaced the manufactories, - enterprises where all the work cycles were carried out manually.

It all began in the late XVIII - early XIX centuries in England. And, by the way, steam machines, weaving looms and some other inventions of those times played an important role in the factory production. The first country that almost completely converted light industry to a factory type is England. Of course, not everything went so smoothly - there are numerous historical evidences of how often dissatisfied craftsmen tried to smash the weaving factories because they let out production in much larger volumes, which depreciated exclusively manual labor. For example, a furniture factory could provide whole cities with inexpensive furniture, while ordinary carpenters could not boast of such productivity.

Gradually, since the middle of the XIX century, mechanization covered other areas of production. There were powerful steam engines, mechanical hammers, milling machines, turning and other machines, which greatly increased labor productivity in general.

Flowering

But the real flowering of such a production can be called the beginning of the twentieth century, when universal electrification greatly facilitated the work of enterprises such as the factory. Photos of those times often show that, for example, lathes were driven by the muscular strength of animals, water or the efforts of the worker himself, which can not be called a productive approach.

Now there are factories in all countries, and they are an important part of the industry and economy of any state. So we understood what a factory is and what are their advantages over manufactories or at all purely manual labor.