Factory 166784 226182846 2008-07-17T05:36:31Z 192.30.92.238 /* Siting the factory */ {{refimprove|date=March 2007}} {{otheruses4|manufacturing plants and different kinds of factories}} [[Image:WomanFactory1940s.jpg|thumb|A factory worker in 1940s [[Fort Worth]], [[Texas]].]] A '''factory''' (previously '''manufactory''') or '''manufacturing plant''' is an [[industry|industrial]] [[building]] where workers [[manufacturing|manufacture]] [[good (accounting)|good]]s or supervise [[machine]]s [[processing]] one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or [[warehouse]]-like facilities that contain heavy [[equipment]] used for [[assembly line]] production. [[Archetype|Archetypally]], factories gather and concentrate resources &mdash; [[Labour (economics)|workers]], [[Capital (economics)|capital]] and [[physical plant|plant]]. ==History of the factory== ===China=== Many <ref>Tsui, Anne S.; Schoonhoven, Claudia Bird; Meyer, Marshall W.; Chung-Ming Lau; Milkovich, George T. "Organization and Management in the Midst of Societal Transformation: The People's Republic of China", ''Organization Science'', Mar/Apr2004, Vol. 15 Issue 2, p133-144. </ref> believed that ancient China had been the first to create factories. In [[ancient China]], imperial and private workshops, mills, and small manufactories had been employed since the [[Eastern Zhou Dynasty]] (771-221 BC), as noted in the historical text of the ''[[Zhou Li]]''.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 3 16-17">Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 16-17.</ref> During the medieval [[Song Dynasty]] (960-1279 AD), independent and government sponsored industries were developed to meet the needs of a growing population that had reached over 100 million. For example, for the printing of [[banknote|paper money]] alone, the Song court established several government-run factories in the cities of [[Huizhou]], [[Chengdu]], [[Hangzhou]], and [[Anqi]].<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 48">Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 48.</ref> The size of the workforce employed in these paper money factories were quite large, as it was recorded in 1175 AD that the factory at Hangzhou alone employed more than a thousand workers a day.<ref name="needham volume 5 part 1 48"/> The Chinese [[iron]] industry was also expanded during the Song Dynasty, with a sixfold increase in per capita [[cast iron]] output between the years 806 and 1078 AD, meaning an overall weight of 127,000,000&nbsp;kg (125,000&nbsp;t) of cast iron product from state-run facilities was forged in the latter year alone.<ref name="ebrey 158">Ebrey, 158.</ref> ===Islamic world=== {{see also|Alchemy and chemistry in Islam|Inventions in the Islamic world}} The first industrial complex for [[glass]] and [[pottery]] production was built in [[Ar-Raqqah]], [[Syria]], in the 8th century. Extensive experimentation was carried out at the complex, which was two [[kilometre]]s in length, and a variety of innovative high-purity glass were developed there. Two other similar complexes have also been discovered, and nearly three hundred new chemical recipes for glass are known to have been produced at all three sites.<ref>{{citation|first1=J.|last1=Henderson|first2=S. D.|last2=McLoughlin|first3=D. S.|last3=McPhail|year=2004|title=Radical changes in Islamic glass technology: evidence for conservatism and experimentation with new glass recipes from early and middle Islamic Raqqa, Syria|journal=Archaeometry|volume=46|issue=3|pages=439–68}}</ref> The first glass factories were thus built by [[Muslim]] craftsmen in the [[Islamic Golden Age|medieval Islamic world]]. The first glass factories in Europe were later built in the 11th century by [[Egypt]]ian craftsmen in [[Corinth]], [[Greece]].<ref name=Hassan>{{cite web |url= http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%2072.htm |title=Technology Transfer in the Chemical Industries |accessdate=2008-03-29 |last=Hassan |first=Ahmad Y |authorlink=Ahmad Y Hassan |work=History of Science and Technology in Islam }}</ref> The first factory [[Mill (grinding)|milling]] installations were built by Muslim engineers throughout every city and urban community in the [[Muslim world]]. For example, the factory milling complex in 10th century [[Baghdad]] could produce 10 tonnes of [[flour]] every day.<ref name=Hill-783>[[Donald Routledge Hill]] (1996), "Engineering", p. 783, in {{Harvard reference |last1=Rashed |first1=Roshdi |last2=Morelon |first2=Régis |year=1996 |title=[[Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=0415124107 |pages=751-795}}</ref> The first large milling installations in Europe were built in 12th century Islamic Spain.<ref name=Lucas-65>Adam Lucas (2006), ''Wind, Water, Work: Ancient and Medieval Milling Technology'', p. 65. BRILL, ISBN 9004146490</ref> The first [[Sugar refinery|sugar refineries]] were also built by Muslim engineers.<ref name=Lucas-10>Adam Robert Lucas (2005), "Industrial Milling in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: A Survey of the Evidence for an Industrial Revolution in Medieval Europe", ''Technology and Culture'' '''46''' (1), p. 1-30 [10].</ref> They were first driven by [[water mill]]s, and then [[windmill]]s from the 9th and 10th centuries in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran.<ref name=Lucas-65/> ===Western world=== Although large mills and manufactories were established in [[ancient Rome]], the [[Venice Arsenal]] provides one of the first examples of a factory in the modern sense of the word. Founded in 1104 in [[Venice]], [[Italy]], several hundred years before the [[Industrial Revolution]], it [[mass production|mass-produced]] ships on [[assembly line]]s using [[American system of manufacturing|manufactured parts]]. The Venice Arsenal apparently produced nearly one ship every day and, at its height, employed 16,000 people. Many historians regard [[Matthew Boulton]]'s [[Soho Manufactory]] (established in 1761 in [[Birmingham]]) as the first modern factory. (Other claims might be made for [[John Lombe]]'s [[Derby Industrial Museum|silk mill]] in [[Derby]] (1721), or [[Richard Arkwright]]'s [[Derwent Valley Mills|Cromford Mill]] (1771)&mdash;purpose built to fit the equipment it held and taking the material through the various manufacturing processes.) One historian, Jack Weatherford, contends that the first factory was in [[Potosí]], for processing silver ingot slugs into coins, because there was so much silver being mined close by. <ref>{{book reference | title=Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World | author=Weatherford, Jack |publisher=The Random House Publishing Group | year=1988 | id=ISBN 0-449-90496-2}}</ref>. See [http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/distance/hist/factory.htm '' City and Factory Life ''] for more background concerning conditions of work. [[Great Britain|British]] colonies in the late 18th century built factories simply as buildings where a large number of workers gathered to perform hand labor, usually in [[textile]] production. This proved more efficient &ndash; for [[Administration (business)|administration]] and for the distribution of raw materials to individual workers &ndash; than earlier methods of manufacturing such as [[cottage industry|cottage industries]] or the putting-out system. [[Cotton mill]]s used inventions such as the [[steam engine]] and the [[power loom]] to pioneer the industrial factory of the 19th century, where precision [[machine tool]]s and replaceable parts allowed greater [[material efficiency|efficiency]] and less waste. Between 1820 and 1850, the non-mechanized factories supplanted the traditional artisanal shops as the predominant form of manufacturing institution. Even though the theory on why and how the non-mechanized factories gradually replaced the small artisan shops is still ambiguous, what is apparent is that the larger-scale factories enjoyed technological gains and advance in efficiency over the small artisan shops. In fact, the larger scale forms of factory establishments were more favorable and advantageous over the small artisan shops in terms of competition for survival. [[Henry Ford]] further revolutionized the factory concept in the early 20th century, with the innovation of [[mass production]]. Highly specialized workers situated alongside a series of rolling ramps would build up a product such as (in Ford's case) an [[automobile]]. This concept dramatically decreased production costs for virtually all manufactured goods and brought about the age of [[consumerism]]. In the mid- to late 20th century, industrialized countries introduced next-generation factories with two improvements: # Advanced [[statistics|statistical]] methods of [[quality control]], pioneered by the American mathematician [[William Edwards Deming]], whom his home country initially ignored. Quality control turned Japanese factories into world leaders in [[cost-effectiveness]] and production quality. # Industrial [[robot]]s on the [[factory]] floor, introduced in the late 1970s. These computer-controlled welding arms and grippers could perform simple tasks such as attaching a car door quickly and flawlessly 24 hours a day. This too cut costs and improved speed. Some speculation as to the future of the factory includes scenarios with [[rapid prototyping]], [[nanotechnology]], and [[orbit]]al zero-[[gravity]] facilities. ==Siting the factory== Before the advent of [[mass transportation]], factories' needs for ever-greater concentrations of workers meant that they typically grew up in an urban setting or fostered their own [[urbanization]]. Industrial [[slum]]s developed, and reinforced their own development through the [[interaction]]s between factories, as when one factory's output or waste-product became the raw materials of another factory (preferably nearby). [[Canal]]s and [[railway]]s grew as factories spread, each [[clustering]] around sources of cheap energy, available materials and/or mass markets. The exception proved the rule: even Greenfield's factory sites such as [[Bournville]], founded in a rural setting, developed its own housing and profited from convenient communications networks. [[Regulation]] curbed some of the worst excesses of [[industrialization]]'s factory-based society, a series of [[Factory Act]]s leading the way in Britain. [[Tram]]s, automobiles and [[town planning]] encouraged the separate development of industrial suburbs and residential suburbs, with workers commuting between them. Though factories dominated the Industrial Era, the growth in the [[service sector]] eventually began to dethrone them: the locus of work in general shifted to central-city office towers or to semi-rural campus-style establishments, and many factories stood deserted in local [[rust belt]]s. The next blow to the traditional factories came from [[globalization]]. Manufacturing processes (or their logical successors, [[Assembly line|assembly]] plants) in the late 20th century re-focussed in many instances on [[Special Economic Zone]]s in developing countries or on [[maquiladoras]] just across the national boundaries of industrialized states. Further re-location to the least industrialized nations appears possible as the benefits of [[outsourcing|out-sourcing]] and the lessons of flexible location apply in the future. ==Governing the factory== Much of [[management]] theory developed in response to the need to control factory processes. Assumptions on the hierarchies of unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled workers and their supervisors and managers still linger on; however an example of a more contemporary approach to work design applicable to manufacturing facilities can be found in [[Socio-Technical Systems|Socio-Technical Systems (STS)]]. =====See Further Articles===== Carroll, S & Gillen, D (1987) 'Are the classical management functions useful in describing managerial work?' Academy of Management Review. v 12 n 1, p38-51 Peterson, T (2004) 'Ongoing legacy of R.L. Katz: an updated typology of management skills', Management Decision. v 42 n10, p1297-1308 Mintzberg, H (1975) 'The manager's job: Folklore and fact' , Harvard Business Review, v 53 n 4, July - August, p49-61 Hales, C (1999) 'Why do managers do what they do? Reconciling evidence and theory in accounts of managerial work', British Journal of Management, v 10 n4, p335-350 Mintzberg, H (1994) 'Rounding out the Managers job', Sloan Management Review, v 36 n 1 p 11-26 Rodrigues, C (2001) 'Fayol’s 14 principles then and now: A framework for managing today’s organizations effectively', Management Decision, v 39 n10, p 880-889 Twomey, D. F. (2006) 'Designed emergence as a path to enterprise', Emergence, Complexity & Organization, Vol. 8 Issue 3, p12-23. McDonald, G (2000) Business ethics: practical proposals for organisations Journal of Business Ethics. v 25(2) p 169-185 ==See also== *[[List of production topics/ideas]] *[[Manufacturing]] *[[Recovered factory]] *[[Industrial railway]] *[[Software factory]] *[[Industrial Revolution]] *[[Factory farm]] ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== *Needham, Joseph (1986). ''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Part 1''. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd. <!-- Please cite source's to help with the encyclopedia's general verifiability concerns. Tips for referencing: For websites, use the formatting below (date/year are when you accessed the web page): {{Web reference | title=Title of page | work=Title of Complete Work | url=http://www.example.com | date=Month Day | year=Year}} For Books, use: {{Book reference | Author=Lincoln, Abraham; Grant, U. S.; & Davis, Jefferson | Title=Resolving Family Differences Peacefully | Publisher=Gettysburg: Printing Press | Year=1861 | Editor=Stephen A. Douglas | ID=ISBN 0-12-345678-9}} For other sources, see: [[WP:CITET]]. --> == External links == * [http://www.qualitionary.eu/index.php?title=Factory Qualitionary - Legal Definitions - Factory] * [http://www.qualitionary.eu/index.php?title=Plant Qualitionary - Legal Definitions - Plant] {{refimprove|date=July 2006}} [[Category:Industrial Revolution]] [[Category:Manufacturing]] [[Category:Production and manufacturing]] [[ar:مصنع]] [[ca:Fàbrica]] [[cs:Továrna]] [[da:Fabrik]] [[de:Fabrik]] [[el:Εργοστάσιο]] [[es:Fábrica]] [[eo:Fabriko]] [[fa:کارخانه]] [[fr:Usine]] [[gd:Factoraidh]] [[ko:공장]] [[id:Pabrik]] [[ia:Fabrica]] [[is:Verksmiðja]] [[it:Fabbrica]] [[he:בית חרושת]] [[nl:Fabriek]] [[ja:工場]] [[no:Fabrikk]] [[nn:Fabrikk]] [[pl:Fabryka]] [[pt:Usina]] [[ro:Fabrică]] [[qu:Phawrika]] [[ru:Фабрика]] [[scn:Fàbbrica]] [[simple:Factory]] [[sl:Tovarna]] [[sh:Tvornica]] [[fi:Tehdas]] [[sv:Fabrik]] [[tg:Корхона]] [[tr:Fabrika]] [[uk:Фабрика]] [[bat-smg:Dėrbīkla]] [[zh:工廠]]