What is a factory? What are the differences between factory and Industry?

A factory is a single unit. And an industry is a segment. For example automobile is an industry. So Maruti Suzuki is a company operating in automotive industry. Similarly its Gurgaon plant is a single factory. 

Factory’ vs ‘Industry’

Our economy is dependent upon several factors, namely; labor, capital, resources, and other economic agents that are necessary for the production, exchange, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

It is likewise dependent on several economic sectors or industries. In ancient times, the economy was primarily based on subsistence farming until the advent of the industrial revolution which paved the way for extensive forms of agriculture and the development of the mining, construction, and manufacturing industries.

Today’s economy is more complex and involves technology which makes it more advanced and modern. Services and finance still play major roles in its development and progress, but industry is the most essential.

‘Industry’ refers to the production of economic goods whether material or service. A place is set for the production of these economic goods, and it is called a factory. Also known as a manufacturer or a manufacturing plant, it is where laborers process products either manually or with the help of machines.

Ancient economies like China, Rome, and the Middle East had large mills and workshops where they produced goods. The Venice Arsenal, a factory in the Republic of Venice founded in 1104, was a location which was known to first mass produce ships in manufacturing plants.

Today there are many manufacturing plants or factories that produce products ranging from the smallest computer chips to the largest ships and aircraft. A typical factory involves people and laborers, capital to start it running, and the plant itself where goods are produced.

Factory is a building or group of buildings where goods are manufactured or assembled chiefly by machine

Factory: A building or group of buildings in which goods are manufactured; a plant Industry: Commercial production and sale of goods

The factory is the organization to produce a commodity, or a combination of commoditiesAs for industry, it consists of several factories in one sector of the food industry such as leather iron and steelmaking industry .... etc.

Their are two different segments.  A factory is a single unit. And it is comming under Small Scale  production. And its run under proprietor.

While the Industry  is a Large Segment which is having a corporated Body. And for example WG Forage. This is an industry manufacturing  plant of Crane shaft of Airplane is a segment. its known as Industrial segment. 

In many cases, the terms factory and industry are used interchangeably, but the meaning of these words are not the same. In fact, industry refers to the production of economic goods. These goods can be materials, products or services. A factory, on the other hand, is the actual location where the materials or products are produced or created.

Industry has a much bigger scope than just factories. Many developed countries and many developing or semi-developed countries depend significantly on industry. Each country’s economy is based on industries. There are four main sectors in industry – primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary.

The primary sector involves the extraction of resources directly from the Earth. The resources do not need to be processed. This includes farming, mining and logging. The secondary sector is involved in the processing of products from the primary industries. They refine the resources into materials. This includes metal refining, producing furniture, meat processing, etc. The tertiary sector is basically services. These are service providers, which do not include an actual physical product, such as teachers, managers, etc. The quaternary sector is basically involved in the research of science and technology.

Industry is an abstract concept of which factories are a part of. A factory is an industrial building or a complex of several buildings where laborers process or create the products. This is done either manually or with the help of machines. Factories are also known as a manufacturer or a manufacturing plant. They can also be warehouses, where the products are stored. Most modern factories contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production. They gather and concentrate resources, such as laborers, capital, machine and materials.

In order for a country’s economy to flourish and prosper, there has to be abundance of both factories and industries. Factories are responsible for creating the growth that develops in an economy. Industry makes use of this growth to advance the economy and the quality of life for the people of the country. As the industry grows and develops, there is an additional need for factories. Likewise, if there are factories, then the industry will continue to grow and develop.

Thanks

I support the answer given by colleague Mohammad Elhareri

Hello Team,

An "industry" is a particular field of business. For example, the car manufacturing industry.A factory would be a place where the industry would be put into practice. A car factory would make cars, but it wouldn't be the only place where the "car manufacturing industry" took place.Factory: A building or group of buildings in which goods are manufactured; a plant.Industry: Commercial production and sale of goods.

Key difference: Industry is the production of material or service products that contribute to an economy. A factory is a building where the actual manufacturing of the product takes place.

Regards,

Saiyid

agree with mr. Mohamed Elhariri 

A factory (previously manufactory) or manufacturing plant is an industrial site, usually consisting of buildings and machinery, or more commonly a complex having several buildings, where workers manufacture goods or operate machines processing one product into another.

Factories arose with the introduction of machinery during the Industrial Revolution when the capital and space requirements became too great for cottage industry or workshops. Early factories that contained small amounts of machinery, such as one or two spinning mules, and fewer than a dozen workers have been called "glorified workshops".[1]

Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production. Large factories tend to be located with access to multiple modes of transportation, with some having rail, highway and water loading and unloading facilities.

Factories may either make discrete products or some type of material continuously produced such as chemicals, pulp and paper, or refined oil products. Factories manufacturing chemicals are often called plants and may have most of their equipment – tanks, pressure vessels, chemical reactors, pumps and piping – outdoors and operated from control rooms. Oil refineries have most of their equipment outdoors.

Discrete products may be final consumer goods, or parts and sub-assemblies which are made into final products elsewhere. Factories may be supplied parts from elsewhere or make them from raw materials. Continuous production industries typically use heat or electricity to transform streams of raw materials into finished products.

The term mill originally referred to the milling of grain, which usually used natural resources such as water or wind power until those were displaced by steam power in the 19th century. Because many processes like spinning and weaving, iron rolling, and paper manufacturing were originally powered by water, the term survives as in steel mill, paper mill, etc

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.

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.

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.

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.