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June 17, 2020

A Brief History of the Automated Assembly Machine

The assembly line is one of the most important innovations for helping push forward the industrial revolution. Some argue it is one of the best innovations for business in the last 100 plus years. Many of the goods and products we see and use are created (at least in part) with the help of automated assembly machines.

Although the process becomes streamlined and highly technical in the 20th century, historians have found evidence of assembly lines used back in the 12th century. This was the Venetian Arsenal, who used assembly lines to build ships. There were no machines in the process, and so everything was done by hand.

The industrial revolution added machines too the process, which led to the first automated assembly lines. Automation at the time was rudimentary at best. Machine factories started popping up throughout the industrialized world. The biggest name associated with this change is Mr. Eli Whitney, who pioneered the concept of interchangeable parts.

The history of automated assembly shows that innovations came step by step. Ransom Olds brought in ideas of automated assembly in 1901, and years after Henry Ford built on that idea.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s Victor Scheinman helped to bring in robotic technology that enhanced the quality and output of mass produced good.

Innovations in the industry are still seen on a yearly basis, especially with the addition of computer technology. The modern automated assembling systems can increase output, quality, and consistency. This will all help to increase business.

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