Henry Ford was the first who launched the modern assembly line in a suburb of Detroit a century ago and helped spark a radical transformation of both manufacturing and society.
By drastically reducing the cost of production with standardized parts and more efficient assembly, Ford was able to bring the luxury, convenience and freedom of the automobile to the masses.
Other industries soon adopted the innovation and today, everything from cereal to caskets is made on assembly lines.
Most critically, the assembly line cut the amount of time it took to assemble a Model T from 12.5 hours to just 93 minutes.
