The Clothing Industry

• Where did the clothing industry first develop?

• What were the important new clothing-producing countries in the early 21st-century?

• What is the hourly wage for apparel workers in the U.S. at the time the article was published? How does it compare with other areas?

• How does high-end apparel production differ from cheap leisure wear?

“Why Do Industries Have Different Distributions?”

Industrialization

It’s All About THE MONEY!

• Industry seeks to maximize profits by minimizing production cost

• Geographers try to explain why one location may provide more profit than another

• Two geographical costs:– Situation:

transporting materials– Site: land, labor, and

capital

Situation Factors

• Definition – transporting materials to and from the factory

• Objective – minimize the costs• For some companies, this is the most

important factor in choosing a location

If you were building a car manufacturing plant in the U.S., where would you locate it?

Proximity to Inputs• Every industry needs either resources

from the physical environment or parts/materials made by another company

• Weight of the material is a factor for choosing location

Example: Copper Industry

• First Step: Mining the copper ore• Bulk-reducing Industry• Concentration mills must be near

mines• Purified copper is then treated at

refineries• Source of energy

Example 2: Steel Industry• Also a bulk-reducing industry• Choose location to minimize the cost of

transporting inputs• Steel is an alloy of iron that is produced

by removing impurities in iron

Origin of Steel Industry• Productions was small

until the Industrial Revolution

• The constant heating and cooling of steel required strength, skill and a lot of time

• The Watt Steam Engine

More advances in the steel industry

• Henry Cort– Puddling – reheating iron until

pasty, then stirring it with iron rods until impurities are burned off

– Rolling – passing iron between rollers to remove remaining scum

• Abraham Darby – produced high quality iron smelted with purified carbon made from coal, known as coke– Result – the iron industry

needed to be near coalfields

U.S. Steel Industry

• In the mid 19th Century – the U.S. steel industry was concentrated around Pittsburgh

• In the first half of the 20th Century – steel mills were built near the coast– Baltimore, L.A., Trenton

Changing U.S. Steel Industry

• Recently, many steel plants have closed

• Survivors – southern Lake Michigan, East Coast

• Successful steel mills are located close to markets

• Mini-mills

Proximity to Markets

• Transporting goods to consumers is an important locational factor for three industries:

1. Bulk-gaining2. Single market3. Perishable

Bulk Gaining Industries

• Gain weight during production• Example: soft drink bottling• Coca-Cola has bottling plants all over

Fabricated Metals and Machinery

• This is a prominent example of a bulk gaining industry

• A fabricated-metals factory brings together parts to make a more complex product

• Examples: TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners, and cars

Location of Car Manufacturing

• Historically – near large markets• Recently – assembly plants focus on

producing a single model rather than locating near all large markets

The Ford Plant in ATL (#6) has closed

Single Market Manufacturers• Products are sold primarily in one

location, so they cluster near the market

• Example: the manufacturers of automobile parts only sell to a couple of customers (GM, Toyota)

• Parts makers ship their products directly to assembly plants

• “auto alley”Average Percentage of

State GDP in Automotive Manufacturing, 1998 to

2008

Perishable Products

• Products must be delivered to consumers ASAP!

• Milkshed• Technology’s impact?

Ship, Rail, Truck, or Air• Trucks – used for short

distance• Trains – longer distances• Water – if available, is

attractive for long distances

• Air – the most expensive, but more firms are using the air for speedy delivery

Break-of-Bulk Points• Cost rises each time inputs are

transferred from one mode to another

• Sometimes – the cost for one mode is lower for inputs and expensive for products, so companies locate at a “break-of-bulk” point where transfer among transportation modes is possible– Seaport, airport

St. Louis is a break of bulk point and you can see the multiple

transportation modes intersect here

Site Factors• Definition = the unique

characteristics of a location• Land, labor, and capital are the

three traditional production factors that vary among locations

• The most important site factor on a global scale = labor

• Minimizing labor cost in VERY important for some industries

Labor• Labor-intensive industry – one in which

labor is a high percentage of expense• Some need highly skilled, expensive

labor• Labor intensive is not the same is “high-

wage”• Textile and clothing industries – require

less skilled, low cost workers– 3 steps: spinning, weaving, and

cutting/sewing– All are labor intensive, but not equally

so resulting in global distributions that are not identical

Textile and Apparel Spinning• Because it is labor

intensive, it is located in low-wage countries (PINGs)

• PINGs account for ¾ of the world’s spinning production

• Located where cotton is grown

• The U.S. is the only PED that is a major thread producer

• Synthetic fibers – ½ is made in PINGs

Textile and Apparel Weaving

• Labor is even more intensive

• Especially highly concentrated in low-wage countries: 86% of the world’s woven cotton is produced in PINGs

• China accounts for ½ of production

• India accounts for ¼ of production

Textile and Apparel Assembly• Textiles are assembled into

four main types of products1. Garments2. Carpets3. Home products4. Industrial uses

• Most of the 80 billion articles of clothing sold worldwide are made in Asia– 3/4 of shirts– ½ of dresses and suits– Most of the world’s

underwear and lingerie• Europeans and North

Americans produce woolens

Land

• Most efficient form of factory is a one story building = more land needed to build these

• Land is cheaper in suburban or rural areas than in the city

• Industries are attracted to energy sources, low electrical rates, and amenities at the site

Capital

• Manufacturers typically borrow funds to establish new factories or expand existing ones

• Silicon Valley – capital

• Financial incentives• The ability to

borrow money in PINGs