The English System of Manufacturing

Chapter 3

English System of Manufacturing

The first change in the technology of manufacturing

firearms occurred some 300 years after Beretta began making guns Establishment of a state-run arms factory at Brescia, the capital of the province around Gardone The machine tool industry was born in England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries through the agency of English mechanics The building and use of tools was the focus of their attention Fabricate a variety of work pieces Apprentices focused on the tools they used rather than on the products they fabricated

 Development of machine tools enables process

improvements to be made independent of product constraints Henry Maudslay worked at Woolwich Arsenal Founder of the machine tool industry survive Products were still infinitely varied as before, but in other respects the birth of process control A born craftsman whose skill was the pride of the entire shop With an intuitive power of mechanical analysis and a sense of proportion possessed by few men

 Development of the slide rest and its combination

with a lead screw operated by change gears Actually designing and developing the first power driven and controlled lathe The lathe had to possess a number of features, enumerated by Robert Woodbury below, which Maudslay was able to synthesize:1. the ability to machine an iron or steel work piece of a substantial industrial size 2. supplied with a source of power and means of its transmission to the work piece and to the cutting tool adequate for cutting iron and steel at rates which are economical 3. Constructed with adequate rigidity and precision 4. Flexibility