Ford Motor Company introduced the moving assembly line at its Highland Park plant in 1913.
The innovation used a continuously moving conveyor system to bring work to employees, rather than requiring each worker to walk around a stationary vehicle. Ford adapted ideas from meatpacking plants, mail-order production, and other industrial operations.
The system dramatically reduced the time needed to assemble a Model T. It also helped Ford lower prices and increase output, although the repetitive work was demanding and required a substantial wage increase to retain employees.
The Highland Park innovation is often confused with the invention of the assembly line itself. Ford did not create every earlier form of assembly production; its major contribution was applying a moving line at unprecedented scale to automobile manufacturing.