From the American System to Mass Production, 1800-1932: The Development of Manufacturing Technology in the United States (Studies in Industry and Society, 4)

In his richly illustrated 'From the American System of Mass Production, David Hounshell explores the development of the 'American system' of manufacturing in the half century before the Civil War and the transition of this system into the 'mass production' of the 20th century. Previous writers on the American system have implied or argued directly that the technical problems of mass production had been solved by antebellum arms makers, Hounshell argues, however, drawing upon the extensive business and manufacturing records of leading American firms...including Singer Manufacturing, McCormick Harvesting Machinery Co., Brown & Share Manufacturing, Pope Manufacturing, and Ford Motor Com...that the diffusion of arms production technology was neither as fast nor as smooth as has been assumed. Both the expression 'mass production' and the technology was that lay behind it were developments of the 20th C, attributable in large part to the Ford Motor Co. Hounshell explores the important role of individuals in the diffusion and development of production technology and the central place of marketing strategy in the success of selected American manufactures. While Ford Motor company was the seebed of the assembly line revolution, General Motors initiated the new era of annual model change. With the new marketing strategy, the technology of 'the changeover' became of paramount importance. Hounshell chronicles how painfully Ford learned this lesson with the change from the Model T to the Model A and then to the V-8 in 1932. David A. Houndshell's widely acclaimed history explores the American genius for mass production and races its origins in the nineteenth-century American system of manufacture. Previous writers on the American system have argued that the technical problems of mass production had been solved by armsmakers before the Civil War. Drawing upon the extensive business and manufacturing records if leading American firms, Hounshell demonstrates that the diffusion of arms production technology was neither as fast now as smooth as had been assumed. Exploring the manufacture of sewing machines and furniture, bicycles and reapers, he shows that both the expression mass production and the technology that lay behind it were developments of the twentieth century, attributable in large part to the Ford Motor Company. Hounshell examines the importance of individuals in the diffusion and development of production technology and the central place of marketing strategy in the success of selected American manufacturers. Whereaas Ford was the seedbed of the assembly line revolution, it was General motors that initiated a new era with its introduction of the annual model change. With the new marketing strategy, the technology of the changeover became of paramount importance. Hounshell chronicles how painfully Ford learned this lesson and recounts how the successful mass production of automobiles led to the establishment of an ethos of mass production, to an era in which propoments of Fordism argued that mass production would solve all of America's social problems. The American System Of Manufactures In The Antebellum Period -- The Sewing Machine And The American System Of Manufactures -- Mass Production In American Woodworking Industries: A Case Study -- The Mccormick Reaper Works And American Manufacturing Technology In The Nineteenth Century -- The Ford Motor Company And The Rise Of Mass Production In America -- Cul-de-sac: The Limits Of Fordism And The Coming Of Flexible Mass Production -- The Ethos Of Mass Production And Its Critics. David A. Hounshell. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. 385-398. Since the 1920s the term mass production has become so deeply ingrained in our vocabulary that we seldom question its origin.