Introduction to materials management

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Before the nineteenth century industrial progress was characterized by its stability, but by the turn of the century the industrial scene had become much more turbulent. By this time, the interacting influences of rapid growth, increasing complexity and powerful social forces were being felt more than ever before. The application of new inventions, especially in the area of automatic machinery, was encouraged, and new production methods were introduced to utilize the potential of newly-developed or improved machinery. Methods of mass production were tried in an attempt to produce as much as possible as quickly as possible. Gradually. the work done in traditional, small, scattered workplaces was brought into factories of ever-increasing size and complexity. As the work became concentrated so did the people needed to perform it, and the new feeling of power coupled with a more complex production process resulted in a labour force that was more dominant and demanding. These developments, already being felt at the turn of the century, were further intensified by the changing attitudes and social values accompanying the social unrest and the military demands of two world wars — an intensity that was especially noticeable after World War II with its enormous war production apparatus and high output rates. Arising from the experience of wartime production and further encouraged by the postwar increases in demand for consumer and industrial products, industrial complexity and changeability became permanent features of the industrial scene.