Difference Between Factory and Industry

Factory vs Industry
 

Though factory and industry are intertwined in the development of the economy of a country or a state, there is a significant difference between the two. A factory is a manufacturing plant. Industry refers to the production of a material or service within an economy. This is the main difference between factory and industry. Though, when speaking about the whole economy, we generally speak about industries, the production process actually takes place within factories. So, a factory is actually very important. There are some other characteristics of factories and industries that we have to understand if we are to learn more about the differences between them.

What is Factory?

A factory is a place where the production process of an economy actually takes place. It is what creates the growth in the economy. For example, think about a garment factory. A garment factory is where the preparing of garments actually happen. This could be weaving fabrics or sewing ready-made clothes.

Factories gather resources such as laborers, capital, and plant that are necessary for the production of goods. Factories are also characterized by the presence of warehouses. The purpose of the warehouses is to store huge equipment necessary for the production of goods.

What is Industry?

In an economy, an industry can mean two things. First of all, industry refers to a group of companies that produce the same product or service. For example, think about the garment industry. The whole of the industry focuses on producing garments. Secondly, industry is primarily divided into sectors. In fact, it is divided into four sectors namely, primary sector, secondary sector, tertiary sector, and quaternary sector.

Primary sector deals with the activity of gaining resources from the Earth. This includes different processes such as mining, farming, and logging. In the secondary sector, we have the companies that are involved in refining the products given by the primary industries such as farming. For example, meat processing can be known as an example where the primary product of meat is refined. In the tertiary sector, we can only see services. These services include professions such as doctors, lawyers, managers, etc. where the product is intangible as it is a service. In the quaternary sector, we have research of science and technology where people are involved in making the economy more efficient by finding new ways to develop things.

Economics and industry are very closely related than economics and factory. Depending upon the economy of a particular region or a country, people keep moving from one sector of the industry to the next sector.Industries make use of the growth in the economy to move further. Thus, it is essential to have a perfect blend of both factories and industries if any given country has to grow in its stature.

For example, steel factories would prompt a growth in the economy of a region or a state. This in turn would pave the way for the development of steel industry and the advancement in the particular industrial sector. Thus, the region or the state keeps moving from one sector to the next.

Factory development would take place if industrial development keeps on growing. Once the industrial development comes to a halt, factory advancement also would come to a halt. In other words, it would mean that more and more development in the steel industry would pave the way for the construction of more and more steel factories.

Thus, it is understood that industrial development is all about production. It is the production that makes any industry to grow by leaps and bounds.

What is the difference between Factory and Industry?

Definition of Factory and Industry:

Factory: Factory is one place where actually the production of goods takes place.

Industry: The industry is a specific division that indicates a particular business activity.

Characteristics of Factory and Industry:

Growth in Economy:

Factory: Factories create growth in the economy.

Industry: Industries make use of the growth in the economy to move further.

Division:

Factory: You cannot divide factory into different types.

Industry: Industry can be divided into several groups as primary sector, secondary sector, tertiary sector, and quaternary sector.

These are the differences between factory and industry. As you can see, though, sometimes, the words are interchanged, the two words factory and industry carry two different meanings.

 

Images Courtesy:

1. Floor of Knoxville factory during the 1980s by AlphaIndustries (CC BY 3.0)
2. Petroleum industry of Iran via Wikicommons (Public Domain)