US History of Manufacturing

By BradyE
  • Period: to

    Early 1900s

    Early 1900s

  • 1901

    1901
    The Assembly line was created

  • 1903

    In 1903, Ford Motor Co. was founded, and machining support for the new company came from the Dodge Brothers.

  • Manufacturers

    During the early 1900s, companies such as Niles Tool Works, John Steptoe & Co., Lodge & Shipley, and G. A. Gray were already producing lathes, screw-cutting lathes, boring and turning mills, shapers, gear-cutting machines, and more for the well-established bicycle, sewing machine, typewriter, railroad, and armament industries.

  • Robotics

    robotic thinking began all the way back in the year 1926 with a robot called Televox. This robot was introduced by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation and the robot could respond to the human voice and perform useful tasks.
  • Period: to

    1940s

    1940-1980

  • Jet Engines

    In 1942, a group of GE engineers, known as "The Hush-Hush Boys," working non-stop for ten months built America's first jet engine.

  • ISO

    ISO is founded to develop international standards for business and technology.

  • 1948 Lean Manufacturing

    In 1948, Toyota Motor Corporation developed what they called “Lean Manufacturing”. This process was developed in order to improve the flow of production by identifying and eliminating waste.

  • OSHA

    OSHA standards around safety and health in the American workplace, and primarily in the American Manufacturing industry are developed and put in place.

  • The First PC

    With the introduction of the first personal computer. The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981. It was created by a team of engineers and designers under the direction of Don Estridge of the IBM Entry Systems Division in Boca Raton, Florida

  • Six Sigma

    The quality system seeks to remove defects and minimize errors. This strategy became famous in 1995 when Jack Welch implemented it at GE.
  • Period: to

    1980-Present

  • IPhone

    With the introduction of the first iPhone, the era of mobility in manufacturing begins, allowing for more efficient communications on the plant floor and laying the groundwork for the future of manufacturing to go digital.

  • 3D printing

    The earliest 3D printing technologies first became visible in the late 1980’s, at which time they were called Rapid Prototyping (RP) technologies. 2013 was a year of significant growth and consolidation. One of the most notable moves was the acquisition of Makerbot by Stratasys.