Different innovations throughout history have formed the way our society functions. These advancements have brought ease and simplicity to complicated, or impossible tasks; the airplane has granted humans the ability to travel vast distances, while the phone enabled our voices to traverse sea and sky.  Each invention has had a heavy impact on the world, but many of these innovations wouldn’t have been made possible, if it weren’t for automated assembly lines. Automated assembly lines are considered one of the most impactful innovations of the 20th century. Without them, industrial tasks and productions would be slow and inefficient.

The first occurrence of the assembly line appeared as early as the 12th century, when the Venetian arsenal produced a naval fleet by moving ships down a line, where they were affixed with parts at a given station. This process allowed the Venetians to complete a full ship, in only a day.  When the industrial revolution began, machines were able to do the jobs that humans once did. With the help of interchangeable parts, factories were able to hire unskilled workers to operate the machines. Each worker played a specific role in the production process.  The item being manufactured would move down the assembly line, to each worker’s station. Similar to the Venetians, this process allowed factory owners to produce a more prolific volume of goods.

In 1901, a man named Ransom Olds created and patented the first legitimate assembly line. Olds, the founder of Oldsmobile, was able to increase his car output by 500 percent, in only one year.  At his peak, Ransom Olds’ factory produced 20 units per day. With the supply skyrocketing, the Oldsmobile was able to meet demands for an affordable car.  This formula for car creation was the first in the automotive industry and was the model for Henry Ford.

Henry Ford is known as the father of automated assembly lines. He improved the procedure by installing the conveyer system.  The product was automatically moved from station to station, where workers assembled each part. This was the skeleton for all further advancements in the automated industry.

Automated Assembly Machines

Today’s robotics is at exorbitant level of sophistication.  Automated assembly lines, that utilize manufacturing robots can work efficiently and increase productivity. Additionally, these robots can complete tasks that are dangerous, or even impossible for humans to achieve. As technology advances, so does the automated assembly industry, and the field will continue to bring progress to the world.

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