ASSEMBLY LINE MANUFACTURING
IN THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
The Industrial Revolution is one of the most significant events in all of world history and had a profound impact on the modern world. It began first in Britain in the 1700s but soon expanded to the rest of Europe and North America. Before the innovations of the Industrial Revolution, most production depended on water, wind or human energy. The businesses that existed at this time were called cottage industries. Cottage industries were an early stage of economic development in society in which workers produce a limited amount of goods in home-based businesses. However, by the mid-1700’s, new methods of production were being developed across Europe, especially in Great Britain. This transition led to the factory system, which was the creation of factories in centralized locations such as industrial towns and cities. This period of innovation continued throughout the 19th century and led to many new inventions by now famous inventors. In fact, one of the key features of the Industrial Revolution is the development of new inventions that led to more automation by machines. Significant inventions or innovations of the Industrial Revolution included: flying shuttle, spinning jenny, power loom, water frame, cotton gin, steam engine, telephone, light bulb, automobile, assembly line production and interchangeable parts.
A significant innovation of the late period of the Industrial Revolution was the development of assembly line manufacturing, which relates to the idea that a product or good is produced by workers working along a motorized or automated line. The product travels along the line and each worker performs a different task in order to create the product. The idea of the assembly line, is that each worker is only responsible for one or two tasks, and repeat the same task over and over on different items as they pass along the line. For example, an automobile would be carried along the line as workers added parts to it to finally construct the completed automobile. Prior to the development of the assembly line, products were generally hand-made by a single craftsman or a small team of craftsmen. This method was slow and inefficient because the craftsman was responsible for completing many different tasks. As such, the development of the assembly line method in the Industrial Revolution sped up production and simplified the manufacturing of goods.
The Industrial Revolution was one of the most important events in human history and dramatically transformed life for people throughout the world. While it first began in Britain, its effects later spread to other parts of Europe, the Americas and now parts of Asia. In general, the Industrial Revolution unfolded in a series of stages, which historians refer to as the First Industrial Revolution and the Second Industrial Revolution. The First Industrial Revolution began in the 18th century and focused primarily on textile manufacturing and steam power. The Second Industrial Revolution began in the mid-19th century and continued until World War I in 1917. The Second Industrial Revolution focused instead on steel production, the automobile and advances in electricity. The explosion of centralized factories in the Industrial Revolution made for perfect environment for the development of the assembly line as a method of production. Historians have identified several early examples of the assembly line method used in England in the late 1700s and early 1800s. For example, the Bridgewater Foundry in Salford, England used early methods of the assembly line in the construction of machine tools and locomotives as early as the 1830s.
However, the most famous known example of the use of the assembly line was by The Ford Motor Company in 1913. Henry Ford’s invention of the automobile is one of the most significant inventions from the Second Industrial Revolution. To be clear, Henry Ford did not invent the first automobile in history. However, Henry Ford’s significance is that he developed the first affordable automobile that was produced on a mass scale to a wide audience.
Henry Ford Infographic (Click to Enlarge)
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Henry Ford Assembly Line (1913)
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Henry Ford
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In 1903, Henry Ford developed the Ford Motor Company with other investors. The company developed a number of automobiles, and he became a very successful man. For example, his Model T was one of the first significant automobiles in American history and was produced on a mass scale. The Model T was first introduced in 1908 and proved to be a wildly popular automobile and is credited with transforming the way that people travel. In fact, the Model T was so popular that by 1914, more that 250,000 of them had been sold in the United States. The sales increased to over 472,000 by 1916 after Ford cut the price of the Model T to just $360. In fact, by 1918, half of all the cars in the United States were Model T’s.
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The popularity of the Model T forced the Ford Motor Company to seek more efficient ways in which to develop the automobile. As such, the Ford Motor Company pioneered the use of the assembly line in modern industrial production. Under this model of production, a part would travel along a belt and workers would install individual pieces. This meant that each worker generally performed the same installation over and over again. Previous to this method, workers would often perform several tasks, but the development of the assembly line simplified production and led to dramatic increases in the output of the factories. This is important because it allowed Henry Ford to develop his automobiles faster, which allowed him to increase sales while also lowering the overall price of the automobile.
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Henry Ford's Model T
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In fact, Henry Ford identified several main benefits of the assembly line method in his 1922 autobiography. First, he argued that it improved the working conditions of the workers because they were no longer required to do any heavy lifting or constant bending. As well, since the assembly line simplified the manufacturing process, it meant that almost anyone could complete the work with relatively little training. Finally, the increased efficiency of the assembly line allowed Ford to increase the basic rate of pay for his employees. For instance, Ford increased worker pay from $1.50 per day to $5.00 per day following the implementation of the assembly line method in his factories.
The development of the assembly line as a method of production was a significant step forward in the mass production of goods. As such, it became an important production technique throughout the later years of the Industrial Revolution and remains an important innovation still today.
The development of the assembly line as a method of production was a significant step forward in the mass production of goods. As such, it became an important production technique throughout the later years of the Industrial Revolution and remains an important innovation still today.
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