How did mass production make manufactured goods more affordable?

Mass production made manufactured goods more affordable by drastically increasing output and reducing the cost per unit, a phenomenon known as economies of scale. This efficiency was achieved through several key industrial innovations:12

• Division of Labour: By breaking production into specialized, repetitive tasks, manufacturers minimized unnecessary movement and increased worker productivity.13
• Standardization: The use of interchangeable parts and automated machinery allowed for high-volume production of uniform goods.14
• The Assembly Line: Innovations like the moving assembly line—famously utilized by Henry Ford—dramatically reduced the time and labor required to assemble complex products, such as automobiles.3
• Factory System: The transition from independent craftspeople to the factory system allowed for a highly organized flow of materials and precise supervision, further lowering costs as production volume rose.354

While these methods significantly lowered prices and made goods accessible to the growing middle class, they also fundamentally transformed the nature of work, often replacing skilled labor with repetitive, machine-paced tasks.36