The nature of U.K. industry has changed considerably over the past two decades. Traditional industries have declined with the advent of high-technology products. Equally, production techniques of the established sector have also been subjected to major change. This paper looks at the role transport now plays in the new industrial situation and the different pressures that high-technology manufacturing industry is placing on transport suppliers. The paper takes, as a case study, the transport needs of the high-technology enclave known as silicon glen in central Scotland and examines how a sample of high-technology firms use different transport modes and how transport fits both into their production process and into the way the local labour market functions.
Abstract