Mechanisation
Topic: Secondary Activities: Manufacturing and Industrial Location · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 5 "Secondary Activities"
Meaning
Mechanisation means using machines and gadgets to do tasks that people once did by hand or with simple tools. It raises how much each worker can produce and reduces the need for hand labour. It is a key feature of modern large-scale manufacturing. Its most advanced stage is automation, where computers control the machines.
Example
In the jute mills along the Hugli river near Kolkata, West Bengal, power-driven machines spin raw jute into yarn and weave it into sacking. A worker with a machine produces far more than a hand-spinner could.
Don't confuse with
- Automation: production run by computers with feedback control, without human thinking at each step. Mechanisation still needs people to run the machines.
Related concepts
- Craft method of production
- Mass production
- Assembly line
- Automation
- Division of labour
- Uneven distribution of manufacturing