American system of manufacturing
History of technology |
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The American system of manufacturing was a set of
The American system involved semi-skilled labor using
Since the parts are interchangeable, it was also possible to separate manufacture from assembly and repair—an example of the
Interchangeability of parts was finally achieved by combining a number of innovations and improvements in machining operations and
Use of machinery
English machine tool manufacturer Joseph Whitworth was appointed as a British commissioner for the New York International Exhibition. Accompanied by another British commissioner, he traveled around several states visiting various manufacturers, and as a result published a highly influential report on American manufacturing, from which he is quoted:
The laboring classes are comparatively few in number, but this is counterbalanced by, and indeed, may be one of the causes of the eagerness by which they call in the use of machinery in almost every department of industry. Wherever it can be applied as a substitute for manual labor, it is universally and willingly resorted to ... It is this condition of the labor market, and this eager resort to machinery wherever it can be applied, to which, under the guidance of superior education and intelligence, the remarkable prosperity of the United States is due.[3]
— Joseph Whitworth, 1854
Other characteristics
The American system contributed to efficiency gains through division of labor. Division of labor helped manufacturing transition from small artisan's shops to early factories. Key pieces of evidence supporting efficiency gains include increase in firm size, evidence of returns to scale, and an increase in non-specialized labor. The need for firms to train uneducated people to perform only one thing in the productivity chain allowed for the use of non-specialized labor. Women and children were employed more frequently within larger firms, especially those producing furniture and clothing.[citation needed].
History
In the late 18th century,
Mass production using interchangeable parts was first achieved in 1803 by
The
Gribeauval's idea was conveyed to the US by two routes. First, Blanc's friend
The War Department, which included officers trained at West Point on Tousard's manual, established the armories at
A critical factor in making interchangeable metal parts was the invention of several machine tools, such as the slide rest lathe, screw cutting lathe, turret lathe, milling machine and metal planer. One of the most important and versatile of these machine tools was David Wilkinson's lathe, for which he received a $10,000 award from the government of the United States.[17][page needed]
Eli Whitney is generally credited with the idea and the practical application, but both are incorrect attributions. Based on his reputation as the inventor of the cotton gin, the US government gave him a contract in 1798 for 10,000 muskets to be produced within two years. It actually took eight years to deliver the order, as Whitney perfected and developed new techniques and machines. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Oliver Wolcott apologizing for the delays, Whitney wrote:
One of my primary objectives it to form tools so the tools themselves shall fashion the work and give to every part its just proportion – which when once accomplished, will give expedition, uniformity, and exactness to the whole... In short, the tools which I contemplate are similar to engraving on a copper plate from which may be taken a great number of impressions, perfectly alike.[14][page needed]
Whitney did use machinery; however, there is no evidence that he produced any new type of metalworking machinery. but he spent far more time and energy promoting the idea than developing it.
In order to spread knowledge of manufacturing techniques, the War Department made contractors open their shops to other manufacturers and competitors. The armories also openly shared manufacturing techniques with private industry.[17] Additionally, the idea migrated from the armories to industry as machinists trained in the armory system were hired by other manufacturers. Skilled engineers and machinists thus influenced American clockmakers and sewing machine manufacturers Wilcox and Gibbs and Wheeler and Wilson, who used interchangeable parts before 1860.[2][18] Late to adopt the interchangeable system were Singer Corporation sewing machine (1870s), reaper manufacturer McCormick Harvesting Machine Company (1870s–80s)[2] and several large steam engine manufacturers such as Corliss (mid-1880s)[19] as well as locomotive makers. Large scale of production of bicycles in the 1880s used the interchangeable system.[2]
The idea would also help lead to the American "Golden Age" of manufacturing when Ransom E. Olds mass-produced the Curved Dash automobile starting in 1901. Henry Ford did not start mass producing cars until 1913. Mastering true interchangeability on the assembly line, the Ford plant produced standard model cars. These efficient production strategies allowed these automobiles to be affordable for the middle class.
Pre-Industrial Revolution
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2006) |
The idea of interchangeable parts and the separate assembly line was not new, though it was little used. The idea was first developed in
See also
- American System of Watch Manufacturing
- Eli Whitney
- Industrial Revolution
- Inside contracting
- Manufacturing
References
- PMID 33642936.
- ^ OCLC 1104810110
- ISBN 978-0-917914-73-7).. Report of the British Commissioners to the New York Industrial Exhibition, London, 1854).
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ Enlightenment & measurement, UK: Making the modern world, archived from the original on 2017-04-05, retrieved 2010-06-23.
- ^ Portsmouth dockyard, UK, archived from the original on 2020-02-26, retrieved 2010-06-23.
- ^ "Block", Collections (exhiblet), UK: Science museum.
- ^ Gilbert, KR (1965), The Portsmouth Block-making Machinery, London
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - ^ Cooper, CC (1982), "The Production Line at Portsmouth Block Mill", Industrial Archaeology Review, VI: 28–44.
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- ^ Coad, Jonathan (1989), The Royal Dockyards 1690–1850, Aldershot
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - ISBN 1-873592-87-6.
- ^ Wilkin, Susan (1999), The application of emerging new technologies by Portsmouth Dockyard, 1790–1815 (PhD Thesis), The Open University (copies available from the British Thesis service of the British Library).
- ^ Cantrell, J; Cookson, G, eds. (2002), Henry Maudslay and the Pioneers of the Machine Age, Stroud
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - ^ ISBN 0-19-504606-4.
- ^ Muir, Diana, Reflections in Bullough's Pond, University Press of New England.
- ISBN 0-316-11672-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8018-9141-0.
- ISBN 978-0-80781867-1.
- ^ Hunter, Louis C. (1985). A History of Industrial Power in the United States, 1730–1930. Vol. 2: Steam Power. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.