Model t ford moving assembly line

1920 ford model t

Not only were his ideas and innovations far ahead of his time but his self-marketing and promotion were too. The story goes that Henry Ford took inspiration from a Chicago meat packing plant in the early 20th Century. He saw something — be it in person or a photograph - that inspired him to revolutionize production at the Ford Motor Company factory.

Ford's innovative practices not only revolutionized automobile manufacturing but also had a profound impact on other industries, leading to widespread changes in business and manufacturing practices. A meat packing plant in the early 20th Century is a bit of a misnomer. Animals went in, they were slaughtered, disassembled, and packed for onward sale.

When was the assembly line invented

It was not a particularly sanitary or safe place to be. But, these plants processed an essential part of the food chain animals and did it in a way that was quick, effective, and most of all efficient. Instead of all working on one animal at a time, they learned to do one part of the process really well and did it multiple times in quick succession.

They hung um, they split um, they disemboweled um and then they hacked off the edible bits in a systematic way before the cuts were cleaned, labeled, and packaged. Each man did one of these jobs, they were highly skilled in it. Once the job was done, the carcass moved to the next guy and then the next…until all the jobs were done. The assembly line concept came from watching assembly line work in a completely different industry.

He realized that the method they were currently using at the Ford Motor Company — where automobiles were assembled by groups of workers who worked together to build each car from start to finish — was costly and time-consuming. If he wanted to realize his dream of bringing the automobile to the masses, something would need to change.

The moving assembly line was born.