Industrial revolution

One of the first factories was John Lombe's Derby Industrial Museum in Derby, which was operating in 1721. By 1746, an integrated brass factory was operating at Warmley, near Bristol. The raw material entered at one end, was cast into brass, and made into pans, pins, wire, and other goods. Accommodation was provided for workers on site. Josiah Wedgwood in Staffordshire and Matthew Boulton at his Soho Manufactory were other early prominent industrialists to employ the factory system.

The factory system began to become widespread somewhat later, when spinning cotton became mechanized.

Richard Arkwright is the person credited with inventing the prototype of the modern factory. After patenting his hydraulic spinning machine in 1769, he established Cromford Mill, in Derbyshire, England, significantly expanding the town of Cromford to accommodate migrant workers new to the area. The factory system was a new way of organizing labor made necessary by the development of machines too large to house in a workers' cottage. The working hours were as long as those of the farmer, that is, from dawn to dusk, six days a week. Overall, this practice essentially reduced skilled and unskilled workers to replaceable commodities. Arkwright's mill was the first successful cotton spinning mill in the world; it unequivocally showed the way forward for the industry and was widely copied.

Between 1770 and 1850, mechanized factories supplanted traditional craft workshops as the predominant form of manufacturing institution, because larger-scale factories enjoyed a significant technological and supervisory advantage over small craft workshops.[33] The first factories (using the factory system) developed in the cotton and wool textile industry. Later generations of factories included mechanized shoe production and machinery manufacturing, including machine tools. Next came factories that supplied the railway industry, such as rolling mills, foundries and locomotive factories, along with agricultural equipment factories that produced cast steel plows and mowers. Beginning in the 1880s, bicycles were mass produced.

The Nasmyth, Gaskell and Company foundry, which began operating in 1836, was one of the first factories to use modern material handling, such as cranes and railway tracks through buildings to handle heavy items.[34]​.

Large-scale electrification of factories began around 1900 following the development of the alternating current motor, which was capable of running at constant speed depending on the number of poles and the current electrical frequency.[35] Larger motors were initially added to axle lines, but as small-power motors became widely available, factories switched to unit transmission. The elimination of line hubs freed factories from design constraints and allowed factory layouts to be more efficient. Electrification allowed sequential automation using relay logic.

Assembly line

Henry Ford further revolutionized the concept of the factory at the turn of the century, with the innovation of mass production. Highly skilled workers positioned next to a series of rolling ramps built a product such as (in Ford's case) an automobile. This concept drastically reduced the production costs of virtually all manufactured products and brought about the era of consumerism.[36]​.

In the middle and end of the century, industrialized countries introduced new generation factories with two improvements:

1. • Advanced quality control statistical methods, promoted by the American mathematician William Edwards Deming, whom his country of origin initially ignored. Quality control made Japanese factories world leaders in cost-effectiveness and production quality.

2. • Industrial robots in factories, introduced in the late 1970s. These computer-controlled welding arms and grippers could perform simple tasks, such as fixing a car door, quickly and flawlessly 24 hours a day. This also reduced costs and improved speed.

Some speculation regarding the future of the factory includes scenarios with rapid prototyping),[37]​ nanotechnology, and zero-gravity orbit facilities.[38]​.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia gallery about Factory.

Industrial revolution

One of the first factories was John Lombe's Derby Industrial Museum in Derby, which was operating in 1721. By 1746, an integrated brass factory was operating at Warmley, near Bristol. The raw material entered at one end, was cast into brass, and made into pans, pins, wire, and other goods. Accommodation was provided for workers on site. Josiah Wedgwood in Staffordshire and Matthew Boulton at his Soho Manufactory were other early prominent industrialists to employ the factory system.

The factory system began to become widespread somewhat later, when spinning cotton became mechanized.

Richard Arkwright is the person credited with inventing the prototype of the modern factory. After patenting his hydraulic spinning machine in 1769, he established Cromford Mill, in Derbyshire, England, significantly expanding the town of Cromford to accommodate migrant workers new to the area. The factory system was a new way of organizing labor made necessary by the development of machines too large to house in a workers' cottage. The working hours were as long as those of the farmer, that is, from dawn to dusk, six days a week. Overall, this practice essentially reduced skilled and unskilled workers to replaceable commodities. Arkwright's mill was the first successful cotton spinning mill in the world; it unequivocally showed the way forward for the industry and was widely copied.

Between 1770 and 1850, mechanized factories supplanted traditional craft workshops as the predominant form of manufacturing institution, because larger-scale factories enjoyed a significant technological and supervisory advantage over small craft workshops.[33] The first factories (using the factory system) developed in the cotton and wool textile industry. Later generations of factories included mechanized shoe production and machinery manufacturing, including machine tools. Next came factories that supplied the railway industry, such as rolling mills, foundries and locomotive factories, along with agricultural equipment factories that produced cast steel plows and mowers. Beginning in the 1880s, bicycles were mass produced.

The Nasmyth, Gaskell and Company foundry, which began operating in 1836, was one of the first factories to use modern material handling, such as cranes and railway tracks through buildings to handle heavy items.[34]​.

Large-scale electrification of factories began around 1900 following the development of the alternating current motor, which was capable of running at constant speed depending on the number of poles and the current electrical frequency.[35] Larger motors were initially added to axle lines, but as small-power motors became widely available, factories switched to unit transmission. The elimination of line hubs freed factories from design constraints and allowed factory layouts to be more efficient. Electrification allowed sequential automation using relay logic.

Assembly line

Henry Ford further revolutionized the concept of the factory at the turn of the century, with the innovation of mass production. Highly skilled workers positioned next to a series of rolling ramps built a product such as (in Ford's case) an automobile. This concept drastically reduced the production costs of virtually all manufactured products and brought about the era of consumerism.[36]​.

In the middle and end of the century, industrialized countries introduced new generation factories with two improvements:

1. • Advanced quality control statistical methods, promoted by the American mathematician William Edwards Deming, whom his country of origin initially ignored. Quality control made Japanese factories world leaders in cost-effectiveness and production quality.

2. • Industrial robots in factories, introduced in the late 1970s. These computer-controlled welding arms and grippers could perform simple tasks, such as fixing a car door, quickly and flawlessly 24 hours a day. This also reduced costs and improved speed.

Some speculation regarding the future of the factory includes scenarios with rapid prototyping),[37]​ nanotechnology, and zero-gravity orbit facilities.[38]​.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia gallery about Factory.