Chapter 5 — Secondary Activities

Secondary activities add value to natural resources by transforming raw materials into finished products of higher value. They are concerned with manufacturing, processing, and construction (infrastructure) industries. For example, iron ore from mines is converted into steel, which is then used to make machines and tools.

Modern large-scale manufacturing is characterised by specialisation of skills and methods of production, complex organisational structure with extreme division of labour, vast capital requirements, mechanisation and automation, and technological innovation through research and development. It is also marked by uneven geographic distribution, concentrated in a few places covering less than 10 per cent of the world's land area.

Footloose industries can be located in a wide variety of places. They are not dependent on any specific raw material (weight-losing or otherwise), largely depend on component parts that can be obtained anywhere, produce in small quantities, and employ a small labour force. They are generally not polluting industries, and the most important locational factor is accessibility by road network.

Technopolies are high-tech industries that are regionally concentrated, self-sustained, and highly specialised. Silicon Valley near San Francisco and Silicon Forest near Seattle are examples of technopolies.

Based on size, manufacturing industries are classified into three types: household or cottage industries (the smallest unit, home-based, using local raw materials and simple tools), small-scale industries (carried on in a workshop outside the home, using simple power-driven machines and semi-skilled labour), and large-scale industries (requiring large capital, advanced technology, specialised workers, and assembly-line mass production).

Basic industries produce goods that are used as raw materials by other industries — for example, iron and steel whose output becomes raw material for machines used in the textile industry. Consumer goods industries (also called non-basic industries) produce goods consumed directly by consumers, such as bread, biscuits, tea, soaps, toiletries, paper, and televisions.

Agro-based industries process raw materials from fields and farms into finished products for rural and urban markets. Major agro-based industries include food processing, sugar, pickles, fruit juices, beverages (tea, coffee, and cocoa), spices, oils and fats, and textiles (cotton, jute, silk). Agro processing also includes canning, producing cream, fruit processing, and confectionery.

Agri-business is commercial farming on an industrial scale, often financed by large corporations whose main interests lie outside agriculture (such as corporations in the tea plantation business). Agri-business farms are mechanised, large in size, highly structured, reliant on chemicals, and may be described as 'agro-factories'.

Industries locate where production costs are minimum. Key factors include: access to market (existence of demand and purchasing power), access to cheap and easily transportable raw materials, access to labour supply (especially skilled labour), access to energy sources, speedy transportation and communication facilities, agglomeration economies (benefits from nearness to related industries), and government policies that promote balanced regional development.

Based on ownership, industries are classified as: (a) Public Sector industries — owned and managed by governments (common in socialist countries and mixed economies); (b) Private Sector industries — owned by individual investors and managed by private organisations (common in capitalist countries); and (c) Joint Sector industries — managed by joint stock companies or jointly by private and public sectors.

High-tech (high technology) industry is the latest generation of manufacturing based on intensive research and development (R&D), leading to products of an advanced scientific and engineering character. Professional (white collar) workers greatly outnumber actual production (blue collar) workers. Notable examples include robotics on the assembly line, computer-aided design (CAD) and manufacturing, electronic controls of smelting and refining, and new chemical and pharmaceutical products. High-tech industrial landscapes feature low, dispersed office-plant-lab buildings rather than massive assembly structures.

Household (cottage) industries are the smallest manufacturing unit, carried on at home using local raw materials, simple tools, and family or part-time labour. Products may be for household use, local market sale, or barter. Small-scale manufacturing is distinguished by its location (a workshop outside the home), use of simple power-driven machines, and semi-skilled labour. Small-scale manufacturing has greater commercial significance and provides wider employment.

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