I am a factory worker and have been for a while. You know a factory or manufacturing plant on an industrial site.
What kind of products do you make?
All sorts, I just do the heavy lifting. Since working there I have become curious about how factories arose with the introduction of machinery during the industrial revolution. 
How long have they been around?
Well the industrial revolution was the transformation and transition into new manufacturing methods from around the 1760's to 1840's