SITE AND SITUATION FACTORS OF INDUSTRY
AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
INDUSTRIALIZATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UNIT
FOR TODAY, 03/09
 Arm yourselves with scholarly weapons
used to battle note-tays (this means you will
be taking notes, so get ready )
 Vocab and Map Exam is Thursday, which is a
short period FYI
 Chapter 11 Reading Quiz and FRQ is Friday
FACTORS AFFECTING DISTRIBUTION OF INDUSTRY
 Site: physical characteristics of a location
 Deals with industry’s factors of production
 Land, labor, capital
 Situation: location relative to other things
 Deals with industry’s proximity to markets and inputs
 Bulk-gaining vs. Bulk-reducing
SITE FACTOR 1: LAND
 Factories are usually rural, suburban, or foreign
 Large tracts of cheap land for one story buildings
 More energy efficient and cheaper
 Lower electricity rates
 Less environmental regulations
 Tax incentives offered by state, county, city governments
 Modes of transportation are critical factor – rail, road, river, etc.
SITE FACTOR 2: LABOR
 Most important site factor
 Labor intensive industry: labor is a high percentage of the expense
 Agriculture, coal mining, construction, textiles
 Skilled vs. unskilled
 Skilled workers likely in MDCs in cities with high number of colleges or college graduates
 Unskilled workers likely in LDCs due to cheap labor costs
Hourly Wages for Countries
The global division of labor:
companies hire out foreign workers to
aid in the manufacturing of a single
product (selective transfer of jobs)
SITE FACTOR 3: CAPITAL
 Manufacturers need to borrow money to establish new factories or expand
existing ones
 Examples:
 Automotive industry concentrated in Michigan due to availability of banks to provide
loans
 High tech industry of Silicon Valley (California)
 2/3 of these companies fail
 ¼ of all capital in U.S. is spent on new industries here
SITUATION FACTOR 1: LOCATION NEAR INPUTS
 Bulk-reducing industries
 The finished product weighs less than inputs
 Ideal location is near the inputs due to high transportation costs
 Easier to transport good to market than input to factory
 Examples:
 Steel industry, copper industry
Steel mills are located
close to the source or
iron ore and coal,
which are both used
to make steel.
SITUATION FACTOR 2: LOCATION NEAR MARKETS
 Bulk-gaining industries
 Final product has more volume than inputs
 Ideal location is near consumers due to high transportation cost of finished
product
 Examples:
 Soft-drink bottling, automobile assembly, breweries,
Beer: inputs heavy to transport.
WATER IS EVERYWHERE produce near customers.
TRANSPORTATION
 Ship, rail, truck or air?
 Choose cheapest according to weight and distance shipped
 Trucks = short distance
 Trains = long distance
 Air = small bulk/high value; fast but costly
 Ship = slow, but very low cost
 Break of bulk point: location where transportation among many modes is possible
 Truck, train, ship, and/or air
Houston
BREAK OF BULK POINTS
Hong Kong
Singapore
Rotterdam
YOUR ASSIGNMENT
(1.) Analyze the Site and Situation factors for the Honda plant in
Greensburg, IN using a mapping browser
(2.) Identify and explain the Site and Situation factors for the Honda plant
(American Honda Motor Co.) in Irving, Texas