Invention of the Assembly Line Thesis

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By then, the principles of division of labor and interchangeable parts had been successfully demonstrated by the American inventors Eli Whitney (1765-1825) and Samuel Colt (1814-1862). (Assembly Line - History)

The assembly line was first used on a large scale by the meat-packing industries of Chicago and Cincinnati during the 1870s. These slaughterhouses used monorail trolleys to move suspended carcasses past a line of stationary workers, each of whom did one specific task. Contrary to most factories' lines in which products are gradually put together step-by-step, this first assembly line was in fact more of a "disassembly" line, since each worker butchered a piece of a diminishing animal. The apparent breakthroughs in efficiency and productivity that were achieved by these meat packers were not immediately realized by any other industry until Ford designed his assembly line in 1913. Ford openly admitted using the meat-packing lines as a model. His success not only brought automobile ownership within the grasp of the average person, but it served notice to all types of manufacturers that the assembly line was here to stay. The assembly line transformed in a revolutionary way the manner and organization of work and by the end of World War I, the principle of continuous movement was sweeping mass-production industries of the world and was soon to become an integral part of modern industry. (Assembly Line - History).

When manufacturers first implemented the idea of the assembly line, they enjoyed dramatic gains in productivity, and the consumer realized lower costs. However, the nature of work in a factory changed radically. Skilled workers were replaced by semi-skilled or even unskilled workers, since tasks had been minutely compartmentalized or broken down and each person was responsible only for assembling or adding one particular part. Manufacturers soon realized however, that not only were a great number of managers and supervisors required to oversee these laborers, but a high degree of preplanning on their part was essential.

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Overall operations had become much more complex and correct sequencing was essential. Thus, before actual assembly line production could begin, proper design of both the product and the assembly line itself had to be accomplished. Even the simplest tasks were critical to its overall success, and the apparently straightforward assembly line became a highly complex process when broken down and considered step-by-step. (Assembly Line - History)

Using modern assembly line methods, manufacturing has become a highly refined process in which value is added to parts along the line. Assembly line manufacturing is characterized by concurrent processes, or multiple parallel activities that feed into a final assembly stage. These processes require a well-planned flow of materials and the development of an advanced materials and supply infrastructure. (Banham)

Henry Ford likely had no idea he was revolutionizing economic theory when he instituted mass production at his Highland Park, Mich., plant where the Model T. was built. There he established the $5-a-day wage, profit sharing and vacations.

Yet he did create an economic philosophy that bears his name and remains not only at Ford Motor Co. But at corporations worldwide. "Fordism" is the relationship between two related economic processes - mass production and mass consumption. Henry wouldn't have believed it.

When Henry Ford started building the Model T. On an assembly line, he didn't just revolutionize the fledgling automobile industry -- he changed the world......

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