Factories are places where items are made or processed into other things. They are a critical part of modern economic production.
The first factories sprang up in the textile industry. Richard Arkwright is credited with starting this development after he patented his water frame and established Cromford Mills.
Today, the word factory is usually associated with making discrete parts on machines for assembly into products (discrete manufacturing). However, plants can make continuous processes such as chemical production and oil refineries.
The Emergence of Factories
The Industrial Revolution changed the way people made goods. Instead of working as independent artisans in their homes or workshops, factory workers would produce large quantities of identical products for a market economy. The advent of factories created large companies that could afford to invest in mechanized production and achieve economies of scale, thereby driving the development of modern industries. This change also shifted the role of workers from craftsmen to wage earners. Immigrants and working-class families had to take on factory jobs to make ends meet.
Originally, factories were powered by water and steam, but as the Industrial Revolution progressed in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, inventors like Arkwright and Watt developed more efficient devices to harness energy from coal and other sources. These inventions allowed entrepreneurs to build larger factories in cities where they could sell their products. As a result, urban population growth rose dramatically in many nations as people moved to city centers to find work.
Factory jobs typically demanded a great deal of physical exertion. Hours worked were long, and conditions were often dirty and unhealthy. In some cases, entire families moved to the city for work, leaving their family members back in the country to tend to their farms. Even when a man stayed with his family, factory work took up so much of his time that he had little or no time for his family life.
While factory work was hard, it did provide higher wages than farming. This was particularly attractive for a family that had to pay a lot of money to maintain a farm. In fact, some families were so desperate for income that they turned to prostitution, drugs and gambling to supplement their wages.
In the 19th century, advancements in transportation and communication technologies further fueled the rise of factories. Railways and iron hulled ships were constructed to move goods, and the electrical telegraph helped increase the speed of communications. These developments facilitated trade and increased the importance of banks and industrial finance.
In the early 20th century, Henry Ford introduced moving assembly lines in his car factories. This innovation greatly accelerated manufacturing, and other factories quickly adopted the system. However, the moving assembly line increased production rates at the expense of worker safety and quality.
The Impact of Factories on Work Practices
In contrast to guild-style workshops where a single artisan produced a good—say, a shoe—from start to finish, factories used a system called division of labor. This allowed workers to concentrate on a specific task, increasing efficiency and decreasing the skill level needed to perform each task. Workers also worked long hours, often from dawn to dusk, six days a week, and many lived within walking distance of their work until trams and automobiles were introduced in the late 19th century.
While the factory system improved productivity, it had a number of negative consequences. Cities became overcrowded as people flocked to urban areas for jobs in factories, putting a strain on resources such as food and water. Sewage flowed in the streets, and factories often dumped waste into rivers and lakes. Workers suffered from health issues due to the poor sanitary conditions in factories.
Working conditions in factories became even more squalid as manufacturers focused on raising profits. Long hours, inadequate remuneration and minimal breaks were the norm. Workers also had to contend with the dangers of machines and tools that could cause accidents, as well as hazardous chemicals in the products they made. In addition, children were often employed in factories, as owners viewed them as more docile and less likely to rebel against their employer.
The impact of the factory on manufacturing and industry is still being felt today. In fact, some argue that the rise of the assembly line has caused more harm than good to workers and society as a whole. The assembly line has allowed for more goods to be produced than ever before, but it has also led to a decrease in job security and a lack of respect for skilled laborers.
The good news is that new research is looking at ways to improve assembly line practices and reduce the negative effects of high turnover rates. For example, some researchers are experimenting with different versions of compensation systems to determine which ones will best motivate workers. Other efforts are aimed at reducing energy consumption and incorporating more eco-friendly materials into the production process.
The Impact of Factories on the Economy
The factory system emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries as capital became available for industrial enterprises, technology advanced, and large numbers of people began moving from country to city in search of work. Machine-tools allowed mass production, and this revolutionary new method of organizing work dramatically changed the nature of labor. Workers in factories produced a greater volume of product with a smaller workforce than ever before, and the quality of the finished goods improved.
Richard Arkwright is credited with being the brains behind the development of factories, after he patented his water frame in 1769 and established Cromford Mill in Derbyshire, England. Unlike workshop-style workshops in which a single skilled craftsman would produce an entire good—say, a shoe or a musket—from start to finish, the factory used a division of labor, where one worker was assigned to each task. The division of labor increased efficiency by allowing skilled artisans to focus on the intricate, complex parts of a finished product while lower-skilled unskilled workers moved materials and completed other tasks.
In addition to reducing the number of workers needed to produce a given quantity of goods, the factory system enabled companies to export their products at lower costs. This accelerated the spread of the factory system and revolutionized international trade. As production moved from domestic workshops to factories, urban pollution increased. Sewage flowed in the streets, and factories discarded waste into rivers and lakes.
Factory work was grueling and often dangerous. Workers worked long hours, from dawn to dusk six days a week. Many of them were young children who toiled in textile factories, crawling under machines to tie up broken threads or to move sacks of cotton. In response, some of the first labor unions were formed to advocate for fairer wages and safer working conditions.
Today, manufacturing is a vital component of the economy. However, as the world moves toward services, more and more manufacturing jobs have been shipped overseas. Many middle-skilled workers have been forced to accept low-paying service sector jobs, contributing to a hollowing out of the economy and rising inequality. Manufacturers can help to fill this gap by focusing on high-value-added production, rather than aiming to compete in the lower-wage marketplace with foreign producers.
The Impact of Factories on Society
As factories proliferated, workers struggled with new work conditions. Unlike craftsmen, who typically worked at their own pace and in the privacy of their own homes or workshops, factory employees had to live within crowded urban centers and spend long hours in squalid working conditions. These conditions also caused urban pollution; sewage often flowed through city streets and waste was dumped into rivers and lakes. Those conditions led to health issues for factory workers and spurred movements for change.
Because of these changes, many families no longer worked on farms and moved to cities in search of employment opportunities. Cities grew exponentially as a result of the industrial revolution, and they soon became hubs for social and economic change.
For many working class citizens, factory jobs paid higher wages than did farm work. This gave families the ability to buy goods and services that would not have been available otherwise, such as better clothing, shoes, household items, tools, and more. Many of these new goods were produced faster and cheaper in factories than they could be made by hand, which improved living standards for consumers across the globe.
Those same advances improved productivity in factories. For example, the moving assembly line developed by Henry Ford in 1913 improved efficiency and reduced production time for automobiles. Many other manufacturers adopted the technology, resulting in lower prices for consumers and increased profits for the companies that manufactured the vehicles.
Factory employees were often paid piece work, either daily wages or a combination of money, housing, meals, and goods from a company store. This system created accounting difficulties because it was difficult to keep track of what each worker did and how much of each item he or she produced. As manufacturing methods continued to improve, factory managers began to reduce piece work pay and increase division of labor.
As factory workers fought for better working conditions, they formed unions and pushed for labor reforms. Despite these gains, conditions in the workplace remained difficult and workers struggled with long hours and inadequate remuneration. Moreover, factory owners often resisted unions because they believed that they would reduce productivity and increase costs.
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