Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1022231
8 SMT007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2018 Henry Ford did not invent the gasoline- driven automobile or the assembly line. But it was his innovation that helped reduce the time it took to build a car from more than 12 hours to just two hours and 30 minutes. [1] The moving assembly line, which Ford's team built in October 1913 at their Highland Park Assem- bly plant, was a revolutionary advancement in production. Mass production had myriad benefits: Ford could now build more cars faster than any competitor, and sell them for a lower sticker price, thus enabling almost everyone to own an automobile. This innovation—the assembly line—through continuous improvements over decades, has become the highly efficient primary mode of manufacturing in a wide range of industries, including our own, and it has changed the way we live and work forever. The assembly line's impact on auto manu- facturing can't be overstated; it undoubtedly furthered the development and improvement of automobiles. In fact, right now, the automo- tive industry is still the major growth driver for the electronics manufacturing industry world- wide, especially with continued growth of elec- tronics in cars, partially due to the increasing development in autonomous/driverless cars. Now, as more machines become even more intelligent, the more efficient these assem- bly lines become. Enter robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), and data analytics—and we have a highly-automated, smart factories—a whole new level of manufacturing. Editor's Note by Stephen Las Marias, I-CONNECT007 The Megadrivers