The article talks about 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 recognized the importance of crafts. It is much easier to purchase or order a product than to spend months, or even years, mastering the skills of its manufacture. In any society, tribe or community, there were always those who were engaged in one thing, devoting, for example, making 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 much more various goods, including food. And it became very difficult to satisfy the needs of all with the help of small craft shops. In addition, the more expensive a particular product, the more time and effort is spent on its manufacture. 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 the industrial revolution in the 18th-19th centuries. But first things first.
Definition
This word comes from the Latin language and in the original sounds like fabrica, which means "factory" or "workshop". Now let’s take a closer look at what it is.
A factory is an industrial property enterprise whose work is based on the use of machines for more productive and high-quality labor. Most often, the factory complex consists of several buildings, each of which is engaged in its own production phase or type of product. Also (but not necessarily) at the factory there are warehouses and managerial offices. So the factory is an industrial enterprise whose work is clearly established. The real flourishing of such enterprises occurred in the middle of the XIX century, when many manual processes of labor were replaced by automatic machines.
But this term is most often used in relation to the light or mining industries, for example, a furniture factory, or a knitwear factory. And in other areas they usually use the word "plant". In the event that a group of factories and other manufacturing enterprises is united by a common territory and management, then they are called a plant. For example, an enrichment plant.
History
The factory is one of those manifestations of the technical and industrial revolution that has greatly influenced the world and changed it. The heyday of fully or partially automated production quickly crowded out manufactories, enterprises where all work cycles were carried out manually.
It all began in the late XVIII - early XIX centuries in England. And, by the way, steam machines, looms and some other inventions of those times played a big role in 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 is numerous historical evidence of how often dissatisfied artisans tried to smash the weaving factories because they produced products in much larger volumes, which depreciated exclusively manual labor. For example, a furniture factory could provide entire cities with inexpensive furniture, while ordinary carpenters could not boast such performance.
Gradually, starting from the middle of the 19th century, mechanization covered other areas of production. Powerful steam engines, mechanical hammers, milling, turning and other machines appeared, which greatly increased labor productivity in general.
Heyday
But the real flourishing of such production can be called the beginning of the 20th century, when universal electrification greatly facilitated the work of enterprises such as the factory. Photos from those times often demonstrate that, for example, lathes were set in motion by the muscular power of animals, water, or by the efforts of the worker himself, which cannot be called a productive approach.
Now factories are in all countries, and they are an important part of the industry and economy of any state. So we figured out what a factory is and what are their advantages over manufactories or even purely manual labor.