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The introduction
of the factory system, that is, specialized establishments where there is the
centralization of power-driven machinery and where workers gather specifically for the
purpose of production. The workers work for wages and do not own the tools of production.
The factory system largely displaces hand production centered in a craftsman's home or
small shop because of the factory system's ability to produce a consistent quality of
standardized goods (which may be superior or inferior in quality to handmade items) with
interchangeable parts and at lower costs than similar end products produced in the
craftsman's shop or by cottage industry. Industrialization also provides a vast quantity
of material goods never before available to the large majority of the population.
Industrialization increases the proportion of a population engaged in nonagricultural
occupations and also increases the number of people living near factories.
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