Assembly Line (1901) | Olds invents a revolutionary system for industry

 " Ransom Olds used the assembly line to jump his production from 425 cars in 1901 to 2,500 in 1902."

Just as motor cars were appearing on the market, Ransom Eli Olds ( 1864-1950 ) had an idea that was to revolutionize industry-the assembly line. After building his first gasoline-powered car in 1896, Olds set out to mass-produce successors to his beloved "Oldsmobile." Spreading himself thinly, Olds tried to produce a large range of models. Then, in march 1901, his company burned to the ground. The fire destroyed all but one of his models, the "Curved Dash" Oldsmobile. Olds focused on producing this model exclusively and made a phoenixlike comeback. He soon had more orders than he could actually meet.

Photograph of early automobiles being produced on a factory assembly line in the United States.

Recalling how he had watched workers at a musket rifle factory assemble guns in assigned stations, Olds came up with an ingenious scheme for a car assembly line. He spent the rest of 1901 working to implement the idea.

The new technique proved to be an effective one, increasing his car output dramatically. Several years later, car manufacturer Henry Ford adopted and reworked the concept for even more efficiency. Machines have now largely replaced human laborers, but virtually all mass-produced products rely on some form of assembly line.