The Ford Model T is widely credited with popularizing the moving assembly line for cars.
Ford did not invent every element of assembly-line production. Ransom E. Olds used an earlier stationary assembly system for the Oldsmobile Curved Dash, but Ford developed the continuously moving conveyor-based process into a highly efficient method for automobile production. The key breakthrough began at Ford’s Highland Park plant in Michigan on October 7, 1913.
Workers were assigned specialized tasks while the Model T chassis moved past them. This sharply reduced assembly time: by 1914, a car could be built in about 93 minutes, compared with roughly 12.5 labor-hours under earlier methods. Falling production costs helped make automobile ownership accessible to America’s growing middle class.
The Model T itself first entered production in 1908 and was built until 1927, with more than 15 million produced. A common mix-up is crediting Henry Ford alone; the system evolved through the work of engineers and managers including Charles Sorensen, Peter Martin, Clarence Avery, and worker William “Pa” Klann.