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How much did Ford reduce the time needed to assemble a car chassis by 1914?
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An assembly line at a Ford factory in Wayne, Michigan, 2011.
By the end of April 1914, the Ford Motor Company had significantly reduced the labor time required to assemble a car chassis through the implementation of the moving assembly line.
Under the original system, where parts were brought to a stationary assembly point, each chassis required 12.5 man-hours (750 minutes) to complete. Through the introduction of the moving assembly line and subsequent process improvements, this time was reduced to 6 man-hours. By the end of April 1914, further refinements—including the use of a chain drive and optimized workstation design—brought the assembly time down to 93 minutes per chassis.12