Industry

Question 1

Define ‘processes’

Answer 1

The events or activities that take place to make a product

Question 2

Define ‘outputs’

Answer 2

The finished product that is sold to the consumer

Question 3

What are examples of physical inputs?

Answer 3

Land, transport, raw materials

Question 4

What are examples of economic inputs?

Answer 4

Labour force, capital, transport costs, raw material costs, energy costs, TNCs, market

Question 5

What are examples of social inputs?

Answer 5

Skill levels, traditions

Question 6

What are examples of political inputs?

Answer 6

Grants, political unions

Question 7

Give examples of processes

Answer 7

Assembly
Maintenance
Packaging
Transport

Question 8

What are the three main types of outputs?

Answer 8

Processed goods, components, manufactured goods

Question 9

Give examples of processed goods

Answer 9

Fruit juices, tea, sugar, tinned fruit, cement, textile yarn (processed agricultural products)

Question 10

Give examples of components

Answer 10

Car parts, bottles, sheet steel, nuts and bolts (raw materials for other industries)

Question 11

Give examples of manufactured goods

Answer 11

Cars, clothing, shoes, radios (sold to the public)

Question 12

What is ‘manufacturing’?

Answer 12

The general term used to describe the secondary sector of economic activity which involves the making of goods

Question 13

What are processing industries?

Answer 13

Industries based on the direct processing of raw materials

Question 14

Define ‘inputs’

Answer 14

The things needed to make or create a product. These may be physical or human

Question 15

What are assembly industries?

Answer 15

Industries based on the routine assembly of products manufactured elsewhere

Question 16

What are high technology industries?

Answer 16

These involve the use of research and development to create high value, technology-based products and processes.

Question 17

What is the difference between heavy and light industry?

Answer 17

Heavy industry uses large amounts of bulky raw materials, processing on a large scale and producing final products of significant size (iron) while light industry is the manufacture of small and light items (computers)

Question 18

What are footloose industries?

Answer 18

Industries which have a much wider choice of location than processing industries (assembly)

Question 19

What are the physical factors affecting the location of industry?

Answer 19

Raw materials-factories need to be close to these if they are heavy and bulky to transport
Energy supply-needed to work machines in a factory
Natural routes-products are sold worldwide now due to globalisation so it is important to be close to natural routes
Site and land-most industries require large accessible areas of cheap flat land to build their factories
Water supply-especially for manufacturing industry

Question 20

What are the human factors affecting the location of industry?

Answer 20

Labour-cheap labour is needed in some industries and skilled labour is needed in others, especially quaternary
Market-an accessible place to sell products is essential for many industries
Transport-good transport network reduces costs and makes the movement of materials easier
Capital-the money that is invested to start the business determines its size and location
Nearby universities-for quaternary sectors that need to carry out research and development
Good communications-contact suppliers and customers
Government policies-industrial development is encouraged and restricted in some areas

Question 21

What is industrial agglomeration?

Answer 21

The clustering together of economic activities that can result in companies enjoying the benefits of external economies of scale. This means lowering a firm’s costs due to external factors.

Question 22

What are urbanisation economies?

Answer 22

Cost savings resulting from urban location due to factors like range of producer services available and the investment in infrastructure already in place

Question 23

What are localisation economies?

Answer 23

Occur when a firm locates close to suppliers or firms that it supplies. This reduces transport costs, allows for faster deliver and facilitates a high level of personal communication between firms.

Question 24

How is the location of industry changing and why?

Answer 24

Global shift in manufacturing world from developed world to NICs and LEDCs as it is cheaper
Urban to greenfield rural location as is it cheaper
In the inner city the suburbs increase due to loss of employment

Question 25

Factors affecting location of high-tech industries

Answer 25

Easy access to airports
Proximity to other high tech industries
Attractive working environment
Good services
Close to research establishments and universities
Access to highly skilled work force
Government incentives 
Good road links

Question 26

Give examples of products produces by high tech industries

Answer 26

Silicon chips
Computers
Software
Robots
Aerospace components

Question 27

What are high tech industries known to do?

Answer 27

Invest a lot of money into scientific research

Develop newer, advanced ideas

Question 28

Why do high tech industries cluster together?

Answer 28

So companies can collaborate easily on joint projects and highly skilled workers can move easily from one company to another