Auto assembly is among the most complex operations in existence, and it requires thousands of parts, people, and machines to make it all work. While early automobiles were built individually by hand, the implementation of the assembly line led the way for mass production, and the worldwide adoption of the automobile. With the demand for automobiles increasing every year, production methods have evolved into the complex and sophisticated manufacturing plants we have today.
Auto assembly is among the most complex operations in existence, and it requires thousands of parts, people, and machines to make it all work. While early automobiles were built individually by hand, the implementation of the assembly line led the way for mass production, and the worldwide adoption of the automobile. With the demand for automobiles increasing every year, production methods have evolved into the complex and sophisticated manufacturing plants we have today.
Producing machinery on a mass scale requires more machinery. Automotive manufacturing plants are dotted all over the world, employing millions of workers, and they all rely on a mind-boggling array of machines and equipment to deliver brand new cars to the dealer showrooms. Once crude and dirty manufacturing floors have given way to technologically advanced operations full of mesmerizing machines assembling parts with speed and precision. These assembly lines offer fascinating, and almost hypnotic, visuals of what some would consider the satisfying machines used to build automobiles.
Early automobiles were assembled piece by piece with most parts being machined individually, and custom fit to each car. Skilled craftsmen and machinists used their knowledge and talent to painstakingly assemble automobiles for delivery to wealthy patrons. Ransome Eli Olds first produced automobiles on an assembly line with his Curved Dash Oldsmobile in 1901. However, it was Henry Ford who turned things up to 11 when he envisioned, and then created, the moving assembly line, an automated manufacturing floor with workers installing parts to a car one by one.