THE GLOBAL ASSEMBLY LINE[[ Human Geography Textbook: Chapter 12 ]]• What is the global assembly line?• What new patterns of industrial activity has it produced?• Why are Nike's made in China?• How has the new global assembly line affected local an

THE GLOBAL ASSEMBLY LINE
[[ Human Geography Textbook: Chapter 12 ]]
• What is the global assembly line?
• What new patterns of industrial activity has it produced?
• Why are Nike's made in China?
• How has the new global assembly line affected local and regional societies,
economies and environments?
1. Characteristics of the Global Assembly Line
From Fordism (p.350) to post-Fordism (p.359)
- see Table 12.1 on page 361.
- increased locational flexibility in time and space.
-from a spatially fixed to a spatially dispersed assembly line
- is this the "end of geography"? no…
An increasingly complex and interdependent system:
Global scale spatial separation of manufacturing operations.
- example: the "global" car.
Increased global outsourcing of materials and components.
- what is meant by "outsourcing"?
Global production chains — the integration of production.
- "just in time" manufacturing on regional and global scales.
- note the dominance of TNCs in cont...