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Article: Mass Production
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
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MASS PRODUCTION
MASS PRODUCTION
is a system of manufacturing based on principles such as the use of interchangeable parts, large-scale production, and the high-volume assembly line. Although ideas analogous to mass production existed in many industrialized nations dating back to the eighteenth century, the concept was not fully utilized until refined by Henry Ford in the early twentieth century and then developed over the next several decades. Ford's success in producing the Model T automobile set the early standard for what mass production could achieve. As a result, mass production quickly became the dominant form of manufacturing around the world, also exerting a profound impact on ...