Industry Production Essay, Research Paper
Industry Production
The structure of industrial production and the service industries is
characterized by the prevalence of smarkforce, 30% beingll and medium-sized
companies (94% and 5.6% according to 100 workers) thoug981 data), employing,
however, only 70% of the workforce, 30% being monopolized by large c ompanies
(more than 100 workers) though these comprise only 0.4% of the total. This means
that companies are widely dispersed over the whole country, obviously with
significant location and concentration of industry, and more than half the
industrial comp anies operate at little more than workshop level, as is seen by
the small workforce in each production unit.
On the other hand, the small number of large companies is explained by increased
concentration, at that level also indicated by the high number of employees.
There is only a limited number of cooperative companies (food sector and the
transformation of agricultural products), while large companies tend to become
multinational. The presence of companies with foreign capital monopolizing
specific commodity secto rs (pharmaceuticals, photographic materials,
electronics, cosmetics etc.) is far from rare.
One particular kind of development regards medium-sized companies, frequently
derivations of small family-run businesses with a specialized production, which
as a result of management flexibility have succeeded in reconverting production
and using technol ogical innovations which, with increased competitivity, enable
them to penetrate international markets, in this way contributing to the
consolidation of the Italian image and presence throughout the world.
The Industrial Sectors
The steel and metalworking industries
The country’s economic revival in the immediate postwar period was essentially
sustained by development and expansion of the basic industries, particularly the
steel industry, itself conditioned by the importation of raw materials such as
ores, scrap iron and coal.
Membership of ECSC enabled the Italian steel industry, which had installed the
integral processing cycle, to attain extremely high levels of production thus
satisfying increasingly greater domestic demand, such as that of the engineering
industry, as well as the export market. Following plant reconversion steel and
metal production is now stagnating due to the international economic situation
dominated by strong competition from Japanese industries and plastics, leading
to overproduction in the principal European countries.
The engineering industries
Mechanical engineering production is extremely varied and includes companies
such as shipbuilding, aerospace, carbuilding etc. with complex work cycles,
together with the manufacturers of simple tools. Component manufacturing is also
well developed and cl osely allied to companies producing durable goods not
easily classified in any one sector (for example, non-metallic materials used in
the car industry: rubber, glass, plastics etc).
In practice, mechanical engineering with its diversification and multiple
relationships with other industries is considered the mainstay of the national
productive system also in terms of the large workforce employed (over 2,2
million according to the 198 1 census, including small workshops). Apart from
cars and other vehicles, the most highly developed industries are tools,
household appliances, electronic equipment, precision instruments etc. The
industrial machinery sector is particularly active with ex tensive overseas
markets, and includes components for complete process cycles.
The chemical industry
The chemical industry is closely linked to mining and quarrying and uses
prevalently liquid (oil) and gaseous hydrocarbons (methane) from which an
immense range of materials is produced (rubber, plastics, synthetic resins,
synthetic fibres, fertilizers et c.), apart from traditional utilization as
heating fuel, engine fuel etc.).
Like the steel industry, the chemical industry has been going through a critical
period due to over-production and problems related to modernization of plant.
One serious additional condition is the need to resort to large-scale
importation of raw materia ls for transformation, and consequent submission to
fluctuating conditions on the international market.
The textile industry
Textiles are the oldest Italian industry, widespread throughout the former
States on the peninsula and frequently linked to the rural community which
provided plentiful low cost labour. In the postwar period, this sector faced a
period of crisis caused pr imarily by the use of old machinery and inefficient
working methods, though also by competition by foreign producers, particularly
in developing countries which were already raw material suppliers (cotton, wool,
jute etc.).
In actual fact, the crisis in the textile industry has deeper roots in the
progressive decay of some traditional related activities, such as silkworm
breeding and the cultivation of hemp and flax. The utilization of artificial
fibres derived from cellulos e, and later of synthetics derived from
hydrocarbons, together with renewal of production plant (mainly automated) and
job reorganization, has enabled far higher levels of productivity to be reached,
offset by a considerable decrease in the workforce and concentration of
companies.
For its raw material supplies (synthetic fibres) and the utilization of the
fabrics produced, the textile sector is closely allied (also by vertical
mergering of companies) to the chemical and garment manufacturing industries.
The latter, in particular, i s still scattered over the country, in the form of
small firms.
The food industry
Development of the food industry is a direct consequence of the expansion of
large urban centres and progressive industrialization. Strictly allied to the
primary sector (agriculture and livestock) it makes considerable use
nevertheless of imports, the re sult of insufficient national agricultural and
livestock production.Ascatteringofsmallartisan-typefirmsgenerallyoriented
towards meeting local demand is now flanked by numbers of medium-sized companies
operating at a national level, using advanced systems of processing,
conservation and packaging, themselves flanking the pasta, wine and oil
producers, and other traditional companies. The food conservation industry is in
a special position, connected with agriculture, livestock and fisheries.
Certain sectors of the economy such as wines, bakery products and confectionery,
are particularly renowned abroad. A number of big multinationals monopolize
supplies and are thus in a position to influence market conditions, while mass
distribution (super markets) is interdependent with certain food manufacturers,
while frozen and vacuum packed foodstuffs have helped to extend seasonal
consumption, particularly of fresh fruit, vegetables and perishables.
Here is a chart showing the dramatic changes in Industry.
The Geological Substratum
Even if it is not very extensive,theItalian territory is distinguished by the
considerable variety of its substratum rocks. The Alps are largely formed from
crystalline rocks (granites, gneisses, mica-schists, porphyries, etc.) but there
are also sedimentary rocks (limestones, dolomites and sandstones) that are
widespread in the eastern sector and the pre-Alpine belt. Sedimentary rocks are
also prevalent throughout the Apennines (limestones, dolomites, sandstones,
clays, marls, etc.), including Sicily, and are found in Sardinia too, where
crystalline and volcanic rocks predominate. There latter (formed from ancient
and recent lava and tufa) also appear in Sicily and along the peninsula’s
Tyrrhenian margin (where there is a considerable concentration of volcanic
phenomena, in part still active) as well as in the Alps. Finally, the flat areas,
including the great Po-Venetian Plain, are basically formed of mixed deposits
that are mainly fluvial in origin (conglomerates, gravels, sands, clays). The
great variety of rock types characterizing the Italian framework is mainly the
result of a complex geological past, distinguished by marked environmental
alternations – now marine, now continental – as well as frequent changes in
climatic conditions. Furthermore, even if present mountain forms are considered
to be rather recent, Italy does contain extremely old rock formations. Some of
the metamorphic outcrops in the Alpine arc and in the Sardinian-Corsican and
Calabrian-Peloritan massifs were formed before the Palaeozoic era, that is more
than 600 million years ago, and therefore do not contain significant traces of
organisms. During the Palaeozic era (lasting from circa 570 to 230 million years
ago) the area now occupied by Italy was largely covered by a tropical sea
(called Tethys by geologists) from which must have emerged some mountain folds,
as those of the Caledonian period, begun some 500 million years ago and whose
traces remain in southwestern Sardinia (Iglesiente and Sulcis). The next
mountain building period, the Hercynian, occurred during the last 100 million
years of the Palaeozoic era and was accompanied by considerable volcanic
activity. This provoked the formation of the original nucleus of the Alpine
chain together with the emergence of the Calabrian-Peloritan mountains
(Aspromonte and Sila in Calabria and Peloritan in Sicily) and the Sardinian-
Corsican massif. The volcanic activity of this period also affected the Alpine
arc (porphyry effusions in the Adige Valley), as well as in the northern
Apennines (Garfagnana and Apuan Alps) and Sardinia and Corsica. Following the
Hercynian orogenesis, the mountains formed by it were subject to intense erosion.
Thus at the end of the Palaeozoic era there emerged from the waters of the
Tethys (the extensive oceanic basin separating the Euro-Asiatic continental
plate from the African) the remains of the palaeo-Alpine chain, part of the
northern section of the peninsula – probably connected with the Sardinian-
Corsican massif, and, further south, the other great island fold of the
Calabrian-Peloritan massif. During the course of the succeeding Mesozoic era,
lasting for over 160 million years, almost all the present area of Italy
remained covered by a large marine basin on whose bottom (which varied
considerably in depth) was deposited on different occasions material of various
types. This was to produce, following a process of compaction and orogenesis,
disparate rock formations: limestones, dolomites, sandstones, marls, etc. In
particular, in the northeastern area there formed extensive coralline reefs from
which the present Dolomites are derived. Towards the end ot the Mesozoic era the
progressive moving together of the African and European continental plates
reduced their common marine space and caused a folding of their respective
margins and part of the bed of the Tethys. This was to produce the Alpine and
Apennine chains whose curvature reflects the anticlockwise movement of the
contact line between Europe and Africa produced by the particular forces of
their respective plates. Their collision took place some 40 million years ago
(between the Eocene and Oligocene periods) in the first-half of the Cenozoic era,
which is considered to have lasted from circa 65 million to 2 million years ago.
lc>The formation of the Alps and the Apennines continued throughout the Cenozoic,
slackening in the succeeding Miocene and Pliocene periods in which however some
uplifting continued. This was accompanied by intense volcanic activity that has
left traces in the Lessini Mts. (Venetian pre-Alps), Euganean Hills, Sardinia,
Tuscany and Sicily (Iblei Mts.). Already, however, during the Miocene period
erosion had considerably increased on the Alpine and Apennine peaks and this
also continued in the Pliocene period, resulting in the depositing at the feet
of the chains of huge deposits of sand, gravel and clay. There then followed a
phase of general increased marine predominance, lasting a good part of the
Miocene and all the Pliocene. At the end of this latter period, circa 1.8-2
million years ago, with the withdrawal of the sea and the filling up of the
great Po depression the shape of the present-day Italian region and particularly
the peninsula and islands began to gradually appear. The Neozoic era, which is
still in progress, was characterized in its early part (corresponding to the
Pleistocene period) by alternating warm and cold climatic phases, which resulted
on several occasions in the expansion and retraction of the Alpine and Apennine
glaciers with a consequent alteration in sea level. The last glaciation ended
circa 10-12 thousand years ago, giving way to the current Holocene period
characterized in Italy by temperate climatic conditions. During the Neozoic era,
usually called the Quaternary, volcanic activity has re-occurred very intensely
especially on the Tyrrhenian side. Surface erosion followed the relief modelling,
filling in with detritus the internal Apennine depressions previously occupied
by lakes (Val d’Arno, Val Tiberina, etc.) and also forming the plains at the
edges of the peninsula and islands. At the same time, while our present flora
and fauna were evolving, there appeared the first known representatives of the
human species in Italy, whose traces have recently been found near Isernia (La
Pineta) and date to some 730,000 years ago.
Landforms
The complexity of its geological history combined with the wide variety of its
substratum rock types, often dislocated by numerous fault-lines and folding of
the rocky strata by orogenic forces, have contributed to Italy’s extremely
diverse morphology. Less than a quarter (23%) of its total territory is formed
by plains, while mountainous areas occupy over a third of its surface (35%).
Finally, over two-fifths (42%) consists of hill zones. Italy’s maximum height
above sea level corresponds with the summit of Mt. Bianco, 4,810 m., on the
border with France. The far eastern section of the Po Plain has in contrast some
zones slightly below sea level, which are generally subject to subsidence
phenomena. However, physically, the Italian territory can be considered to
consist of the following regional units, characterized by a certain
morphological similarity and at times also climatic: the Alpine system and Po-
Venetian Plain in the continental section; the Apennine system and anti-Apennine
reliefs in the peninsula section; and the large islands of Sicily and Sardinia.
The Alps
Almost the whole southern side of this great mountainous system belongs to Italy,
covering as it does a length of circa 110 km from the mouth of the Rh?ne to the
mid-Danube plains and varying in width from circa 150 to 250 km. This southern
side contains many longitudinal (Valle d’Aosta, Valtellina, Val Venosta and Val
Pusteria) and transversal valleys (Val di Susa, Val d’Ossola, Val Camonica and
Valle dell’Adige). It can be divided in three sectors: western, central and
eastern Alps. The first two of mainly crystalline rocks and the third of
sedimentary rocks. Their traditional groupings are still in use: western sector
of Ligurian, Maritime, Cottian and Graian Alps; central sector of Pennine,
Lepontine and Rhaetian Alps; and eastern sector of Adige, Carnic and Julian Alps.
The first two groups contain the highest peaks, often exceeding 4,000 m. (Gran
Paradiso, Mont Blanc, Cervino, Rosa and Bernina). The pre-Alpine belt is mainly
formed of sedimentary rocks. It stretches from the mouth of the Valle d’Aosta to
the Valle dell’Isonzo and is particularly disjointed, especially in two zones:
the Lombard pre-Alps, where the landscape of valleys is enlivened by large
glacially excavated lakes (Orta, Maggiore, Lugano, Como, Iseo and Garda); and
the Venetian pre-Alps, which contain numerous plateaux (Lessini, Sette Comuni
and Cansiglio).
The Po-Venetian Plain
This is the principal Italian plain, extending for circa 42 sq km to the south
of the Alpine arc and having its other border with the northern Apennines and
the Adriatic where it merges into a coast that is low and sandy on the Romagna
shore and ringed by lagoons on the Venetian shore. The Po River cuts across the
centre of the plain and, over the past two thousand years, has created a huge
delta on the edge of the Adriatic Sea. In this it has been assisted by many
Alpine and Apennine tributaries, as well as by other watercourses descending