The assembly line was first used in the automotive industry by Ransom Eli Olds and later improved by Ford’s use of the conveyor belt. The moving assembly line increased efficiency, specialization, and required standardization of parts. However, it also caused worker boredom and pressure to perform quickly.
The first assembly line was created in the automotive industry at the beginning of the 20th century. An early version of the assembly line was used by Ransom Eli Olds starting in the 20th in the production of an automobile known as the Curved Dash Olds. Later, this early assembly line concept was enhanced by the use of the conveyor belt in mass production of cars by Ford. The first assembly line using a conveyor belt was set up at Ford’s Highland Park plant in Michigan, allowing the company to dramatically reduce assembly time and production costs.
The introduction of the first assembly line solved the problem of wasted time caused by workers having to pick and transport parts to the car they were working on. On the moving assembly line, the car moved along the belt to the workers, who could stay in their positions and perform work on each car with parts at hand. This also meant greater specialization on particular tasks by each worker on the assembly line. Ford could boast that everything in the factory moved, whether on the conveyor belt, suspended by overhead chains or sometimes simply by gravity. The workers were spared the tasks of fetching, lifting and carrying.
Henry Ford didn’t come up with the concept of the moving assembly line overnight, but the method was developed over the course of a few years. The idea for the moving belt is said to have come to him while he was observing a grain conveyor belt in a mill. To organize the layout of the assembly line, the manufacturing process of a car had to be broken down into a number of distinct tasks. Ford used the services of a time and motion expert to observe the workers’ actions and establish the time required for each activity on the assembly line.
Another important concept to ensure a successful assembly line was the standardization of parts. For the moving assembly line to work, any part must be able to be fitted into any of the cars. This meant that parts could no longer be made by hand. Greater precision was needed and this required the use of improved machinery and cutting tools in their production.
The main problem with the introduction of the moving assembly line was that workers were prone to boredom and frustration. Their work consisted of single repetitive tasks involving relatively little creativity. The moving assembly line also placed constant pressure on each worker to perform the same task in the required amount of time throughout the day. On the positive side, shorter production times and lower costs meant that workers could receive higher wages.
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