The development and use of machine tools in historical perspective

Abstract

Improvements and diffusion of machine tools have had a major impact on productivity in manufacturing industry since the Industrial Revolution. The impact has been both direct and indirect. The direct impact consists of rising labor productivity through the use of faster, more accurate, more mechanized machines, and of the higher capital productivity through higher operating rates, greater reliability, and higher utilization rates. The indirect impact arises as the use of new or improved machine tools has necessitated or facilitated organizational changes affecting both labor, capital, raw materials, and energy. The magnitude of these impacts has varied over the years with the areas of application as new production methods have made possible entirely new products or lowered the cost of existing products sufficiently to create new markets. The first part of the paper contains a review of the historical development of machine tool technology since the Industrial Revolution, paying particular attention to the role of interaction between producers and users of machine tools. The second part focuses on the way in which recent development differs from that in earlier periods. In particular, it is found that the major changes in machine tool technology, from the so-called American System of Manufactures in the early 19th century to the development of ‘Detroit Automation’ in the 1950s, have tended to improve mass production methods. By contrast, the development of numerical control, beginning in 1948, has opened up the possibility of extending industrial production methods and automation to areas previously characterized more by handicraft methods. Even though this technology is not yet fully utilized, it is clear that the economics of industrial production has been revolutionized by the cost reduction of small scale production relative to large scale and the degree of flexibility offered by the technology. The third section of the paper deals with the present development trends, particularly discussing the increasing importance of flexibility and the shifting emphasis from development of individual pieces of machinery to integration and control of entire manufacturing processes, i.a. through the use of industrial robots. The reasons for the need for greater flexibility in manufacturing are also identified.