Industrial Revolution – The Decline of the Factory Worker
A factory, sometimes a large production plant or several factories packed together is an industrialized manufacturing site, usually a large complex consisting of many buildings full of machines, where employees manufacture different products and operate industrial tools that convert each product into another. In factories, everything is automated. Workers are located in one place such as in an assembly line where they perform specific tasks. They are either on the receiving end of machinery that feeds items into an assembly line or they are responsible for the operations of a particular part of the factory. Both jobs require the operator to have a firm knowledge of industrial safety and practices.
In the early 20th century, with the coming of the auto industry, the concept of unit labor became popular. Unit labor refers to the idea that individual workers should only be required to do those tasks which are directly related to the tasks of the company. This way, there is no longer the need for an operator to worry about following complex or dangerous production procedures, which is often the case with the assembly line. This concept is closely related to the” Lean” or “Quality Control” movement that started in the 20th century.
In modern manufacturing, factories that employ factory personnel also use robots, similar to the assembly line machines, to assist human workers. However, instead of feeding items into an automated system, robots transfer materials or objects from an area of the factory to areas of the factory that need to be manufactured. For instance, rather than spending valuable time waiting for items to be ordered from the receiving dock, robots pick items from shelves where they are ready to be packaged for shipping. Because of this increased efficiency, many manufacturing companies have reported lower inventory turnover and a decrease in the amount of time it takes for products to be finished. In addition to using robots, factories may use other types of equipment to aid the assembly process, including wire and pulley systems, plows, and shredders. However, these types of machines do not eliminate the need for manual labor.
The primary function of a factory system is to create a more productive work environment through the use of humans and machinery. The key to this is to ensure that workers are both trained and unskilled. Workers must be properly educated and certified to perform their duties. Likewise, unskilled laborers must be effectively trained in all aspects of factory operations in order to perform their designated tasks with the utmost accuracy and effectiveness. Although many factories use on-the-job training programs, others still prefer to hire outside trainers to ensure a level of perfection within their operations.
While the industrial revolution introduced new opportunities for higher wages and more wealth creation, it also greatly reduced the social status of factory workers. Before the industrial revolution, most factory workers were uneducated and underpaid. With the introduction of the industrial revolution, this wealth was available to those who were able to study trade skills, acquire the necessary skills through formal education, and obtain an apprenticeship to a master worker. However, as factories began to boom, these opportunities disappeared as businesses grew in size and required more workers in order to operate at full capacity. Consequently, the wages and social status of factory workers were drastically decreased as companies refused to add more workers without increasing the responsibility and pay of the workers.
The solution to this growing problem was the development of more efficient machinery and the integration of technology into the modern factory. The introduction of new machinery meant that factories could utilize the collective power of workers and companies no longer had to outsource the production process. In response to this development, more businesses began to focus on the utilization of machinery rather than the manual labor necessary to produce goods. As a result, the “shop floor” slowly gave way to the “manufacturing floor.” The assembly line became a place where products were designed and produced rather than merely being constructed by hand.
As new technologies increased the efficiency of the manufacturing process overall, the need for workers to man the assembly line less and lessened. Between this increase in production and the reduced need for factory workers to operate machinery, the gap between rich and poor began to disappear as companies could produce a greater variety of goods and products at a lower cost, allowing for an increased number of items produced at once to meet consumer demand. This increased the productivity of both the assembly line and the factory as the increased production allowed factories to employ more workers and machinery to perform the same tasks.
However, some argue that although it may have eliminated some of the problems previously faced by factory workers, the concentration of manufacturing output in a single location has led to a drastic decrease in worker’s quality of life. Workers are now required to commute for long hours in order to receive a pay check. The assembly line itself requires highly developed motor skills in order to perform the tasks at hand. Additionally, as companies have increased production, the need for additional machines to perform even the simplest tasks at a higher level of quality has also arisen, necessitating even greater levels of motor skill and proficiency.
