Mechanical engineering is the most important sector of the national economy. It provides machinery and equipment to all areas of the economy, and also produces many household items that humanity needs in everyday life. This article describes the main factors in the location of engineering and their importance for the production of various types of equipment.
Engineering is the key to the development of the state economy
Mechanical engineering occupies a major place in industrial production and affects the development of all branches of economic activity. It characterizes the scientific and technical level of the country and its defenses. In developed countries, engineering accounts for about 35% of gross domestic product. A feature of the engineering products of these countries is a wide variety of goods of the highest quality and its competitiveness.
The composition of the engineering complex and its features
Mechanical engineering has a rather complex structure and consists of more than 70 different industries. Its main areas are electronics, robotics, transport and agricultural engineering, machine tools, manufacturing of aircraft, locomotives and wagons.
The machine-building complex has a number of important features on which the location of production facilities depends. Firstly, the degree of development of specialization (the manufacturer produces one type of product) and cooperation (when several enterprises work on the production of goods) is crucial in this industry. Secondly, there are certain factors affecting the location of mechanical engineering. Depending on the industry specialization, their combination may vary. For example, an automobile factory makes ready-made vehicles, but for its manufacture uses parts that it purchases from other enterprises. In this case, a well-developed transport network is an important factor in the location of automotive engineering.
Factors for the placement of engineering industries
Economists identified the main factors that significantly affect the location of engineering:
- metal consumption;
- labor resources;
- raw material base;
- high technology;
- territorial concentration;
- consumer factor.
For almost all industries, the main factors are the placement of engineering, such as high technology and labor. The ratio and number of other factors for each type of engineering can vary significantly. For example, the development of the agricultural complex in the country contributes to the growth of demand for land-processing equipment. Thus, there is a need to expand agricultural engineering. The placement factors of high-tech industries (radio electronics, computers) come down to the regions where there are a sufficient number of qualified specialists and it is possible to conduct scientific experiments and research.
Classification of engineering industries
The same factors of location of engineering for some enterprises can be strategic important, while others are only slightly affected. According to this principle, economists divided all branches of engineering into three groups: heavy, medium and general.
Heavy engineering
The branches of this type of engineering are characterized by high metal costs and low labor intensity. These include the production of hoisting-and-transport, mining, metallurgical and mine equipment, heavy machinery, locomotives and wagons, and large vessels. All of these areas in the complex are heavy engineering. The factors of the location of such enterprises are the raw material base and the consumer. So, in the structure of production costs of these plants, the cost of raw materials is from 40 to 80%. For this reason, they are located near metallurgical enterprises and the market.
In the group of branches of heavy engineering, a special place is occupied by power engineering, which produces generators, steam turbines, boilers, engines for river and sea vessels. Enterprises of this direction are mainly located in regions with a well-developed machine-building complex, where highly qualified personnel work. By the same principle, the production of forging equipment and heavy machines is developing. As a rule, such equipment is produced in small batches to order for machine-building enterprises of the country or foreign contractors.
Closer to the consumer are such industries of transport engineering as the production of electric and diesel locomotives, wagons and ships. Thus, shipbuilding gravitates towards seaports, although this industry has some difficulties. The fact is that the construction of modern ships requires special equipment. Therefore, shipbuilding is organized on the principle of cooperation with other enterprises that supply parts, equipment and even finished sections of ships.
Secondary engineering
The main factors in the location of the engineering industry in this group are qualified personnel and energy resources. It includes production with low metal consumption and high labor requirements.
The group of medium-sized mechanical engineering includes enterprises that are characterized by a narrow specialization and connection with supplies from cooperative enterprises. For example, the production of equipment for the printing, food and light industries. The main industry of secondary engineering is automobile manufacturing. This industry also manufactures motors, bearings, electrical equipment, etc.
General engineering
This group of mechanical engineering includes enterprises that specialize in the production of machinery and technological equipment for the chemical, oil refining and forest industries. This also includes factories that produce road and certain types of agricultural machinery. In the structure of the cost price of products of this type, the largest part of the costs is the wages of workers (up to 30%), the remaining costs are raw materials, materials and energy resources. Thus, the location of enterprises of this group depends on the consumer factor, market and labor force.
For example, consider agricultural engineering. The location factors of this industry are consumer demand, raw material base, and the availability of a developed transport connection. The priority factor in the development of agricultural engineering is the consumer factor. It is precisely on the availability of demand for tractors, combines and other agricultural machines that the volume and scale of production depend.
Geography of mechanical engineering
Factors of location of engineering enterprises play a decisive role in the economies of all countries, including the whole world geography. For example, many regions of Canada, Argentina, part of Australia, some US states are centuries-old well-known agricultural areas. In these places there is a consistently high demand for agricultural equipment and machinery. And the rapid rejuvenation and population growth in many Asian countries significantly influenced the deployment on their territory of enterprises specializing in the production of household appliances and radio electronics.