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Heavy/Light Industrial
Heavy industry is a general term that can be used to describe a variety of industrial concerns and operations. Generally speaking, the term describes industrial processes that are highly capital or labor intensive or which produce heavy end products. It tends to be difficult to enter into this type of industry because the start-up costs are often quite high. It is also often difficult to transport the base materials or products involved in heavy industrial processes because of their bulk and weight. In fact, the transportation of the materials used in heavy industry is a major and important heavy industry in its own right. Heavy industry is industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); or complex or numerous processes. Because of those factors, heavy industry involves higher capital intensity than light industry does, and it is also often more heavily cyclical in investment and employment. Heavy industry relates to a type of business that typically carries a high capital cost (capital-intensive), high barriers to entry and low transportability. The term “heavy” refers to the fact that the items produced by “heavy industry” used to be products such as iron, coal, oil, ships, Mining, Petroleum, Aerospace, Construction, etc. Today, the reference also refers to industries that cause disruption to the environment in the form of pollution, deforestation, etc. industry that produces large goods such as cars and machines, or materials such as coal, steel, or chemicals. Light industry Heavy industries seldom sell their products directly to consumers; they tend to sell to industrial customers. They focus primarily on assembling the products, not on promoting or selling the end products. Accordingly, when an economic upturn occurs, heavy industry stock values are among the first to rise as their customers pay them to increase their levels of production. The economic performance of heavy industries is often dependent on the costs of obtaining and transporting the raw materials that they need for production as well. The vast scale and large amount of capital involved in heavy industry tends to result in a significant amount of government regulation. This regulation may be related in part to the effect that heavy industries have on the environment. They often produce a significant amount of pollution that can affect the air and water for miles around. Many heavy industries need to operate around the clock; this often results in a great deal of noise and light than can be disturbing to people living and working nearby. Governments usually address these concerns by applying special zoning laws to heavy industries. Transportation and construction along with their upstream manufacturing supply businesses have been the bulk of heavy industry throughout the industrial age, along with some capital-intensive manufacturing. steelmaking, locomotive erection, machine tool building, and the heavier types of mining, chemical industry and electrical industry, automotive industry construction of skyscrapers and large dams manufacture/deployment of large giant wind turbines and the aircraft industry, shipbuilding, is considered heavy industry. Many Worldwide countries rely on heavy industry as key parts of their overall economies. This reliance on heavy industry is typically a matter of government economic policy.Industries that are typically considered heavy include:
Another trait of heavy industry is that it most often sells its goods to other industrial customers, rather than to the end consumer. Heavy industries tend to be a part of the supply chain of other products. As a result, their stocks will often rally at the beginning of an economic upturn and are often the first to benefit from an increase in demand. Light industry Light industry refers to manufacturing activity that uses moderate amounts of partially processed materials to produce items of relatively high value per unit weight. Light industries require only a small amount of raw materials, area and power. The value of the goods produced is relatively low and they are easy to transport. Light industries cause relatively little pollution when compared to heavy industries. As light industry facilities have less environmental impact than those associated with heavy industry zoning laws permit light industry near residential areas. It is a criterion for zoning classification. The manufacturing of clothes, shoes, furniture, consumer electronics and household items are a few examples of light industries. Light industry is usually are less capital-income intensive than heavy industry and is more raw material-oriented than business-oriented, as it typically produces smaller consumer goods. Most light industry products are produced for end users rather than as intermediates for use by other industries. Light industry facilities typically have less environmental impact than those associated with heavy industry. For that reason zoning laws are more likely to permit light industry near residential areas.One definition states that light industry is a “manufacturing activity that uses moderate amounts of partially processed materials to produce items of relatively high value per unit weight”. Light industry is often used to describe industrial concerns and operations that involve less capital, a lighter environmental impact, and less necessary labor than heavy industry. In many cases, light industry is much more service oriented, and the products developed by light industry are often easier to transport. The manufacture of clothing, furniture, and consumer electronics falls into the category of light industry while the production of automobiles, large structures, some military equipment, such as tanks and bombs, is generally considered to be heavy industry One economic definition states that light industry is a ” manufacturing” activity that uses moderate amounts of partially processed materials to produce items of relatively high value per unit weight”.Low industries require only a small amount of raw materials, area and power. Examples of light industries include the manufacturing of clothes, shoes, furniture, consumer electronics and home appliances. Conversely, ship building would fall under heavy industry. |
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