JC Industry – General Terms


Light Industry

A light industry is an industry that uses light raw materials. The finished product of light industry is usually light and easy to transport. Intel Ireland is an example of a light industry.

Heavy Industry

A heavy industry is an industry which uses bulky (take up much space) and heavy raw materials. The finished products of heavy industry are usually heavy and costly to transport. Cement manufacturing and steel production are examples of heavy industry.

Footloose Industry

A footloose industry is an industry that can locate in a wide variety of places. Light industries are not tied to one location by the cost of moving. Light industries can move location easily. Computer manufacturing is an example of a footloose industries. The assembly line machines used to assemble computers can be easily transported to another factory for use there. Heavy industries such as steel production use specialist factories and equipment. These industries can not move easily as it would be very expensive to build new specialist factories.

Industrial Inertia

‘Inertia’ means ‘resistance to movement. Industrial inertia describes factories that would benefit from changing location but instead decide to remain where they are located. Sheffield Steel is a good example of this. Sheffield steel is located inland. It would benefit it to move to the coast where it could access cheaper imports of raw materials. Instead, Sheffield Steel decided to remain in its original location even though it is more costly to do so.

Greenfield Site

A greenfield site is a location where no building has occurred. Greenfield sites are found in on the outskirts of towns or in rural areas. Companies sometimes prefer to build a new factory on a greenfield site rather than trying to change or adapt an existing factory building to meet its needs.

Brownfield Site

A brownfield site is a location in the docklands or port of a city. The name refers to exiting buildings that may not have been used for a long time. The buildings may have rusted overtime. Brownfield sites are sometimes chosen for new factory locations because government offer tax incentives for companies to locate int eh brownfield site as part of urban regeneration programmes.