The second sector of the economy, manufacturing, is vital to the advancement of developing countries. Yet, in the past, manufacturing of a certain product has largely been in one country in which the majority of the resources come from but also having a viable market to sell. Globalization has largely changed the site and situation of manufacturing in the world. However, first, the definitions of the two basic geographic concepts must be set. Situation is described as the location of a place relative to its surrounding area, meaning it would have to include a comparison rather than looking at the location individually. Site, on the other hand, looks at the actual location of a place and the physical characteristics that come with it and help benefit the people who live and use it. The two ideas are largely interconnected and both come into play when determining the optimal location for manufacturing. For situation, several factors come into play that determine whether or not manufacturing should locate in a place. First, is its proximity to the inputs, or how close it’s located to where the raw material is extracted. The closer the better as transportation costs will be minimized. Second is its proximity to markets or its distance from where the product will be sold. The proximity may differ depending on the product being sold. Perishable products, meaning products that expire in a short time, require a close distance, as do bulk-gaining industries where the production increases the volume and thus, transportation costs need to be minimized. Site is largely impacted by labor as well as the raw material that is available in the area.
As the world became more interconnected through globalization, site and situation of location became more flexible and a certain product, such as a computer, may have its components extracted, put together, or sold all in different places of the world. The extraction of metal which is manual labor that can be done by less-educated people that can be hired at low wages would be at a place such as China. The site in this case would be the large population for cheap labor at the industry’s disposal as well as the existence of the required material—copper, zinc, etc—in the location. The situation would be its proximity to the inputs, as the laborers are located near mines and factories to put together simple parts of the computer. However, the market is still in the same place, which would be in the developed countries. Thus, this would lead to a change in the break-bulk point, where the materials or the products are unloaded, distributed, then placed back on ships (or other transportation systems), and to sent to the desired location. For the case of the computer, because the product and the raw materials itself are not perishable, the major concern of proximity would not necessarily be the quality after time, but the cost required. The computer chips and integrated circuits involved would be designed in Japan or the United States but manufactured in Taiwan. This example alone shows how diverse the world has grown and the dramatic change in site and situation of manufacturing, largely broadening to different locations of the world. Globalization, therefore, has become a major impact on site and situation.
As the world became more interconnected through globalization, site and situation of location became more flexible and a certain product, such as a computer, may have its components extracted, put together, or sold all in different places of the world. The extraction of metal which is manual labor that can be done by less-educated people that can be hired at low wages would be at a place such as China. The site in this case would be the large population for cheap labor at the industry’s disposal as well as the existence of the required material—copper, zinc, etc—in the location. The situation would be its proximity to the inputs, as the laborers are located near mines and factories to put together simple parts of the computer. However, the market is still in the same place, which would be in the developed countries. Thus, this would lead to a change in the break-bulk point, where the materials or the products are unloaded, distributed, then placed back on ships (or other transportation systems), and to sent to the desired location. For the case of the computer, because the product and the raw materials itself are not perishable, the major concern of proximity would not necessarily be the quality after time, but the cost required. The computer chips and integrated circuits involved would be designed in Japan or the United States but manufactured in Taiwan. This example alone shows how diverse the world has grown and the dramatic change in site and situation of manufacturing, largely broadening to different locations of the world. Globalization, therefore, has become a major impact on site and situation.