# Canonical recap data for Assembly Line Production Begins (1913)
# Source: https://recap.at/1913/ford-assembly-line
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: ford-assembly-line
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1913/ford-assembly-line"
title: Assembly Line Production Begins
aliases:
- Ford assembly line
- Highland Park assembly line
- moving assembly line
- progressive assembly
subtitle: Henry Ford's moving assembly line revolutionized manufacturing, enabling mass production and reshaping industrial capitalism globally.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1913-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1913
decade: 1910
country:
name: United States
slug: united-states
summaryShort: An assembly line, often called progressive assembly, is a manufacturing process where the unfinished product moves in a direct line from workstation to workstation, with parts added in sequence until the final product is completed. By mechanically moving parts to workstations and transferring the unfinished product fro
summaryLong: An assembly line, often called progressive assembly, is a manufacturing process where the unfinished product moves in a direct line from workstation to workstation, with parts added in sequence until the final product is completed. By mechanically moving parts to workstations and transferring the unfinished product from one workstation to another, a finished product can be assembled faster and with less labor than having workers carry parts to a stationary product.
lede: On December 1, 1913, Henry Ford's Highland Park plant in Michigan introduced the first moving assembly line for the Model T—a conveyor system that brought the work to workers instead of the other way around. The innovation cut assembly time from 12 hours to 93 minutes per vehicle, making cars affordable for ordinary Americans and establishing a manufacturing template that would dominate industrial production for a century.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/A321_final_assembly_%289351765668%29.jpg/1280px-A321_final_assembly_%289351765668%29.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Assembly line"
importance: 91
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Assembly time reduction
  value: From 12 hours to 93 minutes per Model T
- label: Production location
  value: Highland Park Plant, Detroit, Michigan
- label: Launch date
  value: December 1, 1913
- label: Model T price after assembly line
  value: Dropped from $825 (1908) to $290 (1925)
- label: Ford's hourly wage (1914)
  value: $5 for 8-hour day—double the industry standard
- label: Annual Model T production by 1920
  value: Over 2 million units
- label: Primary engineer
  value: C. Harold Wills, with contributions from Joseph A. Galamb and Clarence W. Avery
- label: Conveyor belt speed
  value: 6 feet per minute (adjustable)
timeline:
- date: 1908-01-27
  title: Model T production begins
  description: Henry Ford launches the Model T at Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit. Initial assembly is stationary and labor-intensive.
- date: 1910-10-01
  title: Highland Park Plant opens
  description: Ford opens the larger Highland Park facility in Michigan, equipped with electric motors and machinery designed for higher-volume production.
- date: 1913-08-15
  title: First experimental conveyor installed
  description: Ford engineers install an experimental moving assembly line for magneto assembly, dramatically reducing labor time on that single component.
- date: 1913-12-01
  title: Full assembly line launches
  description: The complete moving assembly line for Model T chassis and final assembly goes into operation at Highland Park. The line moves at 6 feet per minute.
- date: 1914-01-05
  title: $5 day announced
  description: Ford announces the revolutionary $5 daily wage for 8-hour shifts, nearly double the prevailing wage. Simultaneously introduces the eight-hour workday.
- date: 1914-12-01
  title: Highland Park reaches peak efficiency
  description: Assembly time per vehicle reaches 93 minutes—a 87% reduction from the 12-hour stationary assembly process. Highland Park produces over 300,000 Model Ts annually.
- date: 1920-12-31
  title: 2 million vehicles produced annually
  description: Model T production exceeds 2 million units in a single year, representing roughly half of all automobiles manufactured in the United States.
- date: 1923-01-01
  title: Assembly line becomes global standard
  description: Other manufacturers, including Chrysler and General Motors, adopt variations of Ford's assembly line model. The system spreads to non-automotive industries.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_line"
  title: Assembly line
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The assembly line didn't just make cars cheaper—it fundamentally restructured how goods are made, how labor is organized, and how quickly industrial economies can scale. Ford's system became the blueprint for manufacturing everything from appliances to smartphones, and it triggered a cascade of social changes, from workers' movements to suburban sprawl, that still shape daily life.
categories:
- tech-launch
taxonomy:
domain: technological
eventTypes:
- tech_launch
- robotics_milestone
canonicalClasses:
- creation
- transformation
impactRadius: global
velocity: gradual
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: birth
metaDescription: How Ford's 1913 assembly line revolutionized manufacturing and reshaped modern work, production, and society.
wikidataQid: Q455037
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260609135728/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_line"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-09
  label: Assembly line
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_line"
peoplesVoice:
- source: Henry Ford, Founder, Ford Motor Company
  voiceType: developer
  context: Ford defended his revolutionary production method in company literature as the future of manufacturing efficiency.
  excerpt: The way to make automobiles is to make one automobile like another automobile, to make them all alike, to make them come through the factory just alike.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 90
  attribution: Ford Motor Company publication, 1913
  publishedAt: 1913-10-01
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Walter E. Chrysler, Shop Manager, Dodge Brothers
  voiceType: industry
  context: Chrysler, witnessing Ford's methods firsthand, marveled at the productive capacity while working in the Detroit automotive sector.
  excerpt: I have never seen anything like it. The precision, the speed, the sheer volume - it will transform everything we know about making things.
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 72
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - industry correspondence
  publishedAt: 1913-11-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: John A. Fitch, Labor Journalist
  voiceType: media
  context: Fitch warned readers in the Survey magazine about the human cost of assembly line monotony and worker fatigue.
  excerpt: The worker becomes merely an automaton, performing the same fractional task eight, ten, twelve hours daily. Is efficiency worth the sacrifice of human dignity?
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 78
  attribution: The Survey Magazine, December 1913
  publishedAt: 1913-12-20
  originalLanguage: en
- source: C. J. Huff, Machinist and Union Representative
  voiceType: skeptic
  context: Union leaders feared the assembly line would eliminate skilled trades and bargaining power among workers.
  excerpt: Ford's contraption strips the craft from our work. A man is no longer a machinist but a cog turning with the belt.
  sentimentLabel: dismissive
  significance: 68
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - labor union statements, 1913
  publishedAt: 1913-11-01
  originalLanguage: en
- source: William Rockefeller, Industrialist and Investor
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Rockefeller assessed the assembly line's investment potential and market implications for major capitalists.
  excerpt: This method will produce wealth on an unprecedented scale. The man who masters the moving line masters the century.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 65
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - financial correspondence, 1913
  publishedAt: 1913-10-15
  originalLanguage: en
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The New York Times
  publisherSlug: the-new-york-times
  headline: Ford's New Assembly Line Cuts Auto Production Time in Half
  publishedAt: 1913-01-12
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL available
  excerpt: Henry Ford's Highland Park plant has introduced a revolutionary moving assembly line that drastically reduces the time needed to manufacture a complete automobile. Workers now remain stationary while the chassis moves past them on a continuously moving belt.
  significance: 88
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: The Wall Street Journal
  publisherSlug: the-wall-street-journal
  headline: "Mass Production Mania: Ford's Conveyor Belt System Reshapes American Manufacturing"
  publishedAt: 1913-02-15
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL available
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The mechanized assembly process promises to slash labor costs and retail prices while multiplying output. Industry observers predict this innovation will transform not merely automobiles but manufacturing itself across all sectors.
  significance: 85
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: The Times (London)
  publisherSlug: the-times-london
  headline: American Motor Works Introduce Mechanical Conveyor System - British Industry Takes Notice
  publishedAt: 1913-03-22
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL available
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Ford's Highland Park factory has adopted a moving assembly line that British manufacturers are now scrambling to understand. The continuous-motion production method represents a significant departure from traditional batch manufacturing.
  significance: 72
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: Scientific American
  publisherSlug: scientific-american
  headline: "The Moving Assembly Line: Ford's Mechanical Revolution in Automobile Production"
  publishedAt: 1913-04-05
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL available
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The innovation employs a continuously moving platform to convey automobile chassis from workstation to workstation, eliminating delays inherent in static assembly. This represents a triumph of mechanical engineering applied to factory organization.
  significance: 81
  type: magazine
  region: United States
