On December 1, 1913, the automotive business witnessed a revolutionary transformation with the introduction of the Ford Meeting Line on the Highland Park Plant in Michigan. Conceived by Henry Ford, the meeting line marked a paradigm shift in manufacturing, endlessly altering the best way merchandise had been made and setting the stage for mass manufacturing.

The affect was profound. The meeting line enabled Ford to provide the Mannequin T at an unprecedented charge. What as soon as took over 12 hours to assemble now took simply 93 minutes. This effectivity translated into decrease prices, making cars extra reasonably priced to the typical particular person. Nonetheless, staff had been then confronted with monotonous and repetitive duties and lengthy working hours. As many started to stop and the Worldwide Employees of the World (IWW) union shifted its efforts to hanging, Ford was finally pressured to make a change and improve pay. This finally led to what we all know because the workweek: 40 hours per week, eight hours a day.

Between 1908 and 1927, Ford builds 15 million Mannequin T’s, altering the very material of commercial and agricultural America.