First of all, study vocabularies. You can find them in your study materials (Studijní materiály - Industry), or you can use the follow link.   

MANUFACTURING AS A SYSTEM

Manufacturing industries can be described as individual systems. These industries all have inputs, processes and outputs. Firstly, there is a need for finance to invest in the manufacturing industry in question. Secondly, there is a need for input of raw materials to be processed into other products. In order for this to happen, there is a need for another input, the third, and that is labour. Fourthly, the whole of this process can only take place if there is an input of energy to keep the whole activity moving. Finally, there is a need for transport, by sea, air, road or railway, to bring raw materials to the factory for processing.

Once the inputs are all in place, there are number of processes which occur in the manufacturing industry. Some of the processes are done by people manually and others are done by machines. In many manufacturing industries, chemical processes occur and materials are heated or mixed with other materials. During the process of manufacturing there may be waste produced in the form of gases release or there may be solid or liquid waste created. Outputs from the manufacturing process can be divided into three groups: these are items produced for sale to other industries or businesses; there are products made for sale to the public and there are also outputs in the form of transport for taking goods to the points of sale.
 

Differences between light and heavy industries

Heavy industries use heavy, bulky goods to manufacture heavy products whereas light industries use lighter raw materials to make lighter products. Steel, which is heavy, is used to make ships, which are heavy. On the other hand, textiles, such as clothes, are made from light materials like cotton and synthetic materials. Heavy industries also need large sites for manufacturing, holding raw materials, waste treatment plants and storage of goods.

 

 

 

   

 

Light industries do not demand as much space as heavy industries. Genarally, they are environmentally friendly and so are often planned near to residential areas for access to a labour supply. Heavy industries are not people friendly and so are planned far from residential areas.
 

THE BRITISH IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRIES



Before 1750 the location of the British iron and steel industries was based on resources and where they could be found. Britain's first iron mills were located near sources of wood and iron ore: in the south near the Forest of Dean, in the Weald in Sussex and in Kent. These industries needed charcoal, made from wood, and fast-flowing water to rotate water wheels for industrial power.

From 1750 to 1850 the location of the iron and steel industries was based on the availability of coal. The industrial revolution was based on the steam engine, fuelled by coal. Iron mills no longer used charcoal and changed location to be nearer to coalfields. Britain had large qauntities of coal widely scattered throughout England, Scotland and Wales. These coalmining areas then became large industrial regions. Coalfields that also had local deposits of iron ore, such as in South Wales, became the most important industrial areas. Large cities grew up around all these coalfield areas and Britain became the first industrialized nation in the world.

After 1850, steel was manufactured commercially from iron for the first time. This increased the demand for iron and steel products; more jobs were created, and cities grew faster than before. By the early twentieth century a number of factors created new location patterns in the iron and steel industries. These included the fact that most iron deposits in Britain had been used up, which meant that ore had to be imported. Also new and more efficient energy sources were available, such as gas and oil, and better methods of producing iron and steel products could be carried out in modern, planned factories. So new factories were located on the coast at ports where raw material and fuel could be unloaded. These new, more efficient factories are called integrated steel works. Two important steelworks in Britain are at Port Talbot and Teeside in England.
 

   

There are some exercises for you. Go through them! You can find them in Study Materials (Studijní materiály -> Odpovědníky) or you can use the follow link.