What is the industry?

We explain what the industry is, its history, importance, classification and other characteristics. In addition, examples of industries.

1. What is the industry?

Industry is the set of human activities capable of transforming raw material into processed or semi-finished products , through the realization of work through tools or machinery, human resources, and energy consumption.

The industry forms a fundamental link for contemporary society , at the same time as one of the main environmental and ecological risk factors . Its sustained impact since the time of the Industrial Revolution begins to be unquestionable at the beginning of the 21st century.

Industries are considered, practically, all production work from raw material , including those associated with handicrafts. However, in the modern idea of ​​industry, automation and mass production (the so-called Fordism) are often fundamental elements .

The ability to produce faster and faster is the spirit that guides contemporary industry, which goes hand in hand with technology and engineering, even when it means replacing human workers with machines.

Industries in society usually occupy the Secondary Sector , which receives the raw material and transforms it into marketable products. However, they can also belong to the Primary Sector , as is the case of extractive industries.

2. Industry history

The industry, in some way, has always been present in the desire of the human being to adapt the world to his needs, in order to live more, better and with less effort. However, between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries there was the Industrial Revolution , that is, the highest level in history in the human capacities of raw material transformation.

This explosion of industry had begun to build after the fall of medieval feudalism , when the population migrated from rural areas to cities , to integrate a new workforce that was beginning to become necessary: the working class . Also with the Industrial Revolution , capitalism developed as a mode of production .

During the nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, the industrial exploitation of the labor force was the greatest contribution to the GDP of European nations , also allowing the emergence of specialization and new technologies, hand in hand with new advances century scientists.

The new industrial society divided the countries of the world between industrialized or developed, those that made the leap towards productive and independent economies, and underdeveloped or non-industrialized countries, which are those dependent on foreign economies and dedicated to the sale of raw materials.

3. Industry Types

There are various types of industry, depending on the specific sector to which their production is dedicated. Some of the best known types are:

• Heavy industries . Using large amounts of raw material and energy, they are generally engaged in steel and other activities that generate semi-processed materials, inputs in turn for basic industries.
• Steel or metallurgical industries . They are dedicated to the transformation and alloy of metals , to achieve useful forms for other industries or for the direct consumer .
• Chemical industries . Dedicated to obtaining chemical elements and compounds , to be used by other industries or directly by consumers.
• Petrochemical industry . As the name implies, it is dedicated to the chemical transformation of petroleum , that is, to its refinement to obtain various derivatives, such as gasoline, kerosene or plastic .
• Car industry . Dedicated to car construction.
• Food industry . That whose main market is that of foods of diverse nature, be they foods, drinks or ingredients for cooking.
• Textile industry . Dedicated to the production of fabrics and fabrics for making clothes and other products.
• Pharmaceutical industry . It is dedicated to the combination of compounds organic and inorganic for various types of medicines and health supplies.
• Arms industry . That which is dedicated to the production of military or police armament.
• Industry computer . Dedicated to the production of computer parts , entire computers, accessories, peripherals, etc.
• Mechanical industry . That whose products are machines, spare parts for machines or tools for repair.
• Leatherworking industry . It is dedicated to the work of animal skins to produce footwear, clothing and other products of animal origin.
• Energy industry . Its main and only task is to obtain energy to feed the population and other industries, through mechanical, atomic or chemical processes.

4. Importance of the industry

The industry introduced great changes in the human life model , to the point that our vital paradigms changed forever . The consumer society in which we live today is mainly based on the exploitation of the Earth’s natural resources .

In addition, our planet is transformed by the industrial sector , or to obtain energy, in an effort to meet a growing and more constant energy demand. The destiny of the industry, seen in this way, is closely linked to the ecological destiny of the planet and the destiny of our own species .

5. Industry examples

Some simple examples of industry are:

• Telephone industry . Dedicated to the commercialization of telephone terminals and supplies necessary for its operation, but not to the commercialization of the telephone service. Samsung, Nokia, are examples of companies in this area.
• Automotive industry . Dedicated to the production of cars and in some cases motorcycles and similar internal combustion engine vehicles. Honda, Ford, Mercedes Benz, are examples of companies in the field.
• Oil industry . Dedicated to the extraction of oil and its commercialization, by the hand or not of the petrochemical industry to refine it. PDVSA, British Petrol, Shell, Texaco, are examples of companies in the field.

6. Manufacture

The manufacturing process is called manufacturing , that is, the economic production of consumer goods , covering a wide range of human activities, ranging from handicrafts to the mass industry, and transforming the raw material into processed or semi-finished products.

That is to say, that it is a term more or less synonymous to that of industry, in the cases in which they are industries of the secondary sector. Thus, we can talk about manufacturing industries, to differentiate them from industries dedicated to the extraction of raw materials , such as the mining industry.