factory system


factory system

the system of production introduced widely after the advent of the INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, in which workers were brought together in increasingly large units, making possible the application of new means of inanimate power (water power, steam), an extension of the DIVISION OF LABOUR, and a closer overall control of the LABOUR PROCESS. The relative importance of these three factors is debated, but some commentators suggest that the importance of the last of these has been underestimated. The factory system replaced earlier systems of artisan craft production and the putting-out system, in which workers were provided with materials and resources to finance the productive processes for work undertaken on their own premises.