Plant vs. Machinery — What's the Difference?
By Fiza Rafique & Urooj Arif — Updated on March 13, 2024
Plant involves a wider category including buildings, machinery, vehicles, and more, focused on a production process as a whole, whereas machinery refers specifically to devices or systems that perform tasks, usually part of a plant's assets.
Difference Between Plant and Machinery
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Plants are comprehensive systems encompassing various components like buildings, equipment, machinery, and vehicles integral to production processes. They represent the physical setting where products are manufactured or services are provided. On the other hand, machinery refers to individual devices or systems that execute specific tasks within these processes. Machines are designed for precise applications, such as manufacturing, processing, or assembling products.
While plants include the overall infrastructure necessary for industrial or manufacturing operations, machinery is a subset of this infrastructure, focusing solely on the mechanical aspects. Machinery is the backbone of production, directly involved in creating or modifying products, whereas plants encompass both the machinery and the support facilities like warehouses and offices.
Plants often require a significant investment in terms of capital, space, and maintenance to establish and run effectively. They are typically seen in contexts where production is on a large scale. Conversely, machinery represents a more focused investment, critical to specific operations within a plant. The maintenance and operation of machinery are vital for the efficiency and productivity of the plant as a whole.
The terminology varies by industry and context. In some sectors, "plant" can refer to a factory or workshop, while in others, it might denote a larger industrial complex. Machinery, however, consistently refers to the equipment and tools used within these environments to perform work.
Plants and machinery are subject to different accounting and tax treatments. The cost of acquiring and maintaining a plant is usually capitalized and depreciated over its useful life. Machinery, while part of the plant's assets, might have different depreciation rates and maintenance schedules, reflecting its usage and wear.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
A facility with machinery, buildings, and equipment for manufacturing or processing.
Devices or systems that execute tasks within a plant.
Scope
Broad, includes infrastructure and machinery.
Narrow, focused on specific tasks.
Investment
Large-scale, including buildings, equipment, and land.
Focused on specific devices or systems.
Role
Provides the setting for production or service delivery.
Directly involved in production or processing.
Depreciation
Depreciated over the life of the overall facility.
May have different depreciation rates based on use and lifespan.
Compare with Definitions
Plant
A facility where goods are manufactured or processed.
The automotive plant produces over 200 cars daily.
Machinery
Devices designed to perform a specific task in production.
The new machinery has doubled the packaging speed.
Plant
An industrial site containing various equipment and machinery.
The chemical plant was updated with new safety equipment.
Machinery
Equipment that is part of a larger system within a plant.
The machinery in the paint shop is due for an upgrade.
Plant
The physical assets of a business involved in production.
The company invested heavily in upgrading its plant.
Machinery
Machines collectively, especially those in a manufacturing process.
The machinery was imported from Germany for precision engineering.
Plant
A location designed for specific industrial operations.
The new plant specializes in recycling electronics.
Machinery
The mechanical aspects of a production process.
Regular maintenance keeps the machinery in optimal condition.
Plant
A term used to describe the comprehensive assets used in production, including buildings and machinery.
The total value of the plant has increased after the latest expansions.
Machinery
Tools and devices that automate processes.
The company's investment in new machinery has significantly improved efficiency.
Plant
Plants are mainly multicellular organisms, predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, plants were treated as one of two kingdoms including all living things that were not animals, and all algae and fungi were treated as plants.
Machinery
Machines or machine parts considered as a group.
Plant
A living organism of the kind exemplified by trees, shrubs, herbs, grasses, ferns, and mosses, typically growing in a permanent site, absorbing water and inorganic substances through its roots, and synthesizing nutrients in its leaves by photosynthesis using the green pigment chlorophyll.
Machinery
The working parts of a particular machine.
Plant
A place where an industrial or manufacturing process takes place
A giant car plant
Machinery
A system of related elements that operate in a definable manner
Diplomatic and political machinery.
Plant
A person placed in a group as a spy or informer
We thought he was a CIA plant spreading disinformation
Machinery
A device or means of achieving or effecting a result.
Plant
A shot in which the cue ball is made to strike one of two touching or nearly touching balls with the result that the second is potted.
Machinery
A literary device for bringing about an effect, such as a happy ending.
Plant
Put (a seed, bulb, or plant) in the ground so that it can grow
We planted a lot of fruit trees
Machinery
The machines constituting a production apparatus, in a plant etc., collectively.
Plant
Set or place in a particular position
She planted a kiss on his cheek
He planted himself squarely in front of her
Machinery
The working parts of a machine as a group.
Plant
Any of various photosynthetic, eukaryotic, multicellular organisms of the kingdom Plantae characteristically containing chloroplasts, having cell walls made of cellulose, producing embryos, and lacking the power of locomotion. Plants include trees, bushes, herbs, ferns, mosses, and certain green algae.
Machinery
The collective parts of something which allow it to function.
All of the machinery of the law was brought to bear on the investigation.
Plant
A plant having no permanent woody stem; an herb.
Machinery
(figuratively) The literary devices used in a work, notably for dramatic effect
Plant
Any of various fungi, algae, or protists that resemble plants and were formerly classified in the plant kingdom. Not in scientific use.
Machinery
Machines, in general, or collectively.
Plant
A building or group of buildings for the manufacture of a product; a factory
Works in an auto plant.
Machinery
The working parts of a machine, engine, or instrument; as, the machinery of a watch.
Plant
The buildings, fixtures, and equipment, including machinery, tools, and instruments, necessary for an industrial operation or an institution
The university's mechanical plant.
Machinery
The supernatural means by which the action of a poetic or fictitious work is carried on and brought to a catastrophe; in an extended sense, the contrivances by which the crises and conclusion of a fictitious narrative, in prose or verse, are effected.
The machinery, madam, is a term invented by the critics, to signify that part which the deities, angels, or demons, are made to act in a poem.
Plant
A person placed in a group of spectators to influence behavior.
Machinery
The means and appliances by which anything is kept in action or a desired result is obtained; a complex system of parts adapted to a purpose.
An indispensable part of the machinery of state.
The delicate inflexional machinery of the Aryan languages.
Plant
A person stationed in a given location as a spy or observer.
Machinery
Machines or machine systems collectively
Plant
A misleading piece of evidence placed so as to be discovered.
Machinery
A system of means and activities whereby a social institution functions;
The complex machinery of negotiation
The machinery of command labored and brought forth an order
Plant
A remark or action in a play or narrative that becomes important later.
Plant
(Slang) A scheming trick; a swindle.
Plant
To place or set (seeds, for example) in the ground to grow.
Plant
To place seeds or young plants in (land); sow
Plant a field in corn.
Plant
To place (spawn or young fish) in water or an underwater bed for cultivation
Plant oysters.
Plant
To stock with spawn or fish.
Plant
To introduce (an animal) into an area.
Plant
To place or fix in a certain position
Planted both feet on the ground.
Planted a kiss on my cheek.
Plant
To deliver (a punch or blow).
Plant
To fix firmly in the mind; implant
"The right of revolution is planted in the heart of man" (Clarence Darrow).
Plant
To establish; found
Plant a colony.
Plant
To station (a person) for the purpose of functioning in secret, as by observing, spying, or influencing behavior
Detectives were planted all over the store.
Plant
To conceal; hide
Planted the stolen goods in the warehouse.
Plant
(botany) An organism that is not an animal, especially an organism capable of photosynthesis. Typically a small or herbaceous organism of this kind, rather than a tree.
The garden had a couple of trees, and a cluster of colourful plants around the border.
Plant
(botany) An organism of the kingdom Plantae; now specifically, a living organism of the Embryophyta (land plants) or of the Chlorophyta (green algae), a eukaryote that includes double-membraned chloroplasts in its cells containing chlorophyll a and b, or any organism closely related to such an organism.
Plant
(ecology) Now specifically, a multicellular eukaryote that includes chloroplasts in its cells, which have a cell wall.
Plant
Any creature that grows on soil or similar surfaces, including plants and fungi.
Plant
A factory or other industrial or institutional building or facility.
Plant
An object placed surreptitiously in order to cause suspicion to fall upon a person.
That gun's not mine! It's a plant! I've never seen it before!
Plant
Anyone assigned to behave as a member of the public during a covert operation (as in a police investigation).
Plant
A person, placed amongst an audience, whose role is to cause confusion, laughter etc.
Plant
(snooker) A play in which the cue ball knocks one (usually red) ball onto another, in order to pot the second; a set.
Plant
(uncountable) Machinery, such as the kind used in earthmoving or construction.
Plant
(obsolete) A young tree; a sapling; hence, a stick or staff.
Plant
(obsolete) The sole of the foot.
Plant
A plan; a swindle; a trick.
Plant
An oyster which has been bedded, in distinction from one of natural growth.
Plant
A young oyster suitable for transplanting.
Plant
(control theory) The combination of process and actuator.
Plant
(ambitransitive) To place (a seed or plant) in soil or other substrate in order that it may live and grow.
Plant
(transitive) To place (an object, or sometimes a person), often with the implication of intending deceit.
That gun's not mine! It was planted there by the real murderer!
Plant
(transitive) To place or set something firmly or with conviction.
Plant your feet firmly and give the rope a good tug.
To plant cannon against a fort; to plant a flag; to plant one's feet on solid ground
Plant
To place in the ground.
Plant
To furnish or supply with plants.
To plant a garden, an orchard, or a forest
Plant
To engender; to generate; to set the germ of.
Plant
To furnish with a fixed and organized population; to settle; to establish.
To plant a colony
Plant
To introduce and establish the principles or seeds of.
To plant Christianity among the heathen
Plant
To set up; to install; to instate.
Plant
A vegetable; an organized living being, generally without feeling and voluntary motion, and having, when complete, a root, stem, and leaves, though consisting sometimes only of a single leafy expansion, or a series of cellules, or even a single cellule.
Plant
A bush, or young tree; a sapling; hence, a stick or staff.
Plant
The sole of the foot.
Plant
The whole machinery and apparatus employed in carrying on a trade or mechanical business; also, sometimes including real estate, and whatever represents investment of capital in the means of carrying on a business, but not including material worked upon or finished products; as, the plant of a foundry, a mill, or a railroad.
Plant
A plan; an artifice; a swindle; a trick.
It was n't a bad plant, that of mine, on Fikey.
Plant
An oyster which has been bedded, in distinction from one of natural growth.
Plant
To put in the ground and cover, as seed for growth; as, to plant maize.
Plant
To set in the ground for growth, as a young tree, or a vegetable with roots.
Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees.
Plant
To furnish, or fit out, with plants; as, to plant a garden, an orchard, or a forest.
Plant
To engender; to generate; to set the germ of.
It engenders choler, planteth anger.
Plant
To furnish with a fixed and organized population; to settle; to establish; as, to plant a colony.
Planting of countries like planting of woods.
Plant
To introduce and establish the principles or seeds of; as, to plant Christianity among the heathen.
Plant
To set firmly; to fix; to set and direct, or point; as, to plant cannon against a fort; to plant a standard in any place; to plant one's feet on solid ground; to plant one's fist in another's face.
Plant
To set up; to install; to instate.
We will plant some other in the throne.
Plant
To perform the act of planting.
I have planted; Apollos watered.
Plant
Buildings for carrying on industrial labor;
They built a large plant to manufacture automobiles
Plant
A living organism lacking the power of locomotion
Plant
Something planted secretly for discovery by another;
The police used a plant to trick the thieves
He claimed that the evidence against him was a plant
Plant
An actor situated in the audience whose acting is rehearsed but seems spontaneous to the audience
Plant
Put or set (seeds or seedlings) into the ground;
Let's plant flowers in the garden
Plant
Fix or set securely or deeply;
He planted a knee in the back of his opponent
The dentist implanted a tooth in the gum
Plant
Set up or lay the groundwork for;
Establish a new department
Plant
Place into a river;
Plant fish
Plant
Place something or someone in a certain position in order to secretly observe or deceive;
Plant a spy in Moscow
Plant bugs in the dissident's apartment
Plant
Put firmly in the mind;
Plant a thought in the students' minds
Common Curiosities
What differentiates a plant from machinery?
A plant encompasses the entire facility, including machinery, for production or processing, while machinery refers specifically to devices executing tasks within the plant.
How is the investment in plants and machinery different?
Investment in plants is comprehensive, covering buildings and infrastructure, whereas machinery investment focuses on specific tools and devices.
Do plants and machinery have different depreciation rates?
Typically, yes. Plants are depreciated over their useful life, while machinery may have varying rates based on usage and lifespan.
Why is maintenance important for machinery?
Regular maintenance ensures machinery operates efficiently, prolongs its lifespan, and prevents production disruptions.
How does technology impact plants and machinery?
Technological advancements can significantly enhance both plants and machinery, improving efficiency, productivity, and safety. For machinery, technology may introduce automation and precision, while for plants, it can lead to smarter facility management and production processes.
Can machinery operate outside of a plant?
Yes, machinery can operate independently of a plant in smaller operations or specialized applications.
Is the term "plant" used differently in various industries?
Yes, the term "plant" can vary by industry. In manufacturing, it typically refers to a production facility, while in energy, it could denote a power generation station. The context dictates its specific meaning.
Can a single piece of equipment be considered a plant?
Usually, no. A plant refers to a larger setup that may include multiple pieces of equipment and machinery. However, a very large or complex piece of equipment serving multiple functions might be colloquially referred to as a "plant" in some contexts.
What constitutes the maintenance of a plant versus machinery?
Maintenance of a plant involves overall facility upkeep, including buildings, safety systems, and infrastructure, whereas machinery maintenance focuses on keeping specific devices operational, such as lubrication, part replacements, and repairs.
How do environmental regulations affect plants and machinery?
Environmental regulations can have a significant impact, requiring plants to implement cleaner technologies and more efficient waste management systems. Machinery may need to meet specific emissions or energy efficiency standards to comply with these regulations.
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Written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
