Factory system

A concentration of the processes of manufacturing—fixed capital, raw material, and labour—under one roof, in order to provide the mass production of a standardized product or products. The factory system superseded cottage industry because it made possible economies of scale, a standardized product, and the deskilling of labour, which increased efficiency and increased the power of the employer. Mass production also meant that specialized machines could be used to their maximum effect. See indivisibility.

The ‘factory system’ has been an important element in the accelerating processes of industrialization known as the industrial revolution. As British industrial enterprises expanded in the 18th cent., it became important to develop a more tightly organized form of production than the traditional method of employing workers in small workshops or their own homes—as in the ‘domestic system’. The solution was the construction of large manufacturing establishments, in which the work-force could be closely controlled and strict conditions of time-keeping maintained. In this way employers were able to minimize the loss of raw materials by theft, and to install powerful prime movers (water wheels or steam-engines) to drive their machines.

From the employers' point of view, this factory system had such manifest advantages that it was widely adopted, especially in the textile industries, where the Lombe silk factory in Derby was a marvel of the age. Indeed, the factory system became the dominant form of industrial organization throughout the 19th cent., and remained important in the 20th cent. However, the introduction of electricity and road haulage has made possible a significant dispersal of industry, and the ‘information revolution’ of modern electronics has enabled an increasing number of people to work at home.

Architecturally, the factory system developed through several phases. Early factories were solidly built to accommodate the necessary machines and sources of power. Many factories became well-built structures with decorative flourishes such as ornate chimneys. Idealistic entrepreneurs, such as Robert Owen or Titus Salt, provided good housing and public amenities for their workers. Modern ‘industrial estates’ are typically composed of a series of temporary boxes of little architectural distinction.

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The factory system was a method of manufacturing first adopted in England at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and later spread abroad. Fundamentally, each worker created a separate part of the total assembly of a product, thus increasing the efficiency of factories. Workers, paid by wage, and machines were brought together in a central factory. All the processes of production would be carried out under one roof, and would continue as long as it was practical. Inconclusively, Richard Arkwright is the person credited with being the brains behind the growth of factories. After he patented his water frame in 1769, he established a factory at Cromford, in Derbyshire, England. The factory system was a new way of organizing labour made necessary by the development of machines which were too large to house in a worker's cottage. Working hours were as long as they had been for the farmer, that is, from dawn to dusk, six days per week. It reduced the worker to an unskilled commodity who could be easily replaced.

Debate arose concerning the morality of the system, as workers complained about unfair working conditions prior to the passage of labour laws. Child labour was also a major part of the system, and was vehemently argued by those who deemed it immoral. Robert Owen created his utopian socialist factories specifically to not conform to this system.

See also

• Agricultural Revolution
• Derwent Valley Mills

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