Production

The large-scale, production-line manufacturing of affordable automobiles was debuted by Ransom Olds at hisOldsmobile factory in 1902. This concept was greatly expanded by Henry Ford, beginning in 1914.As a result, Ford's cars came off the line in fifteen minute intervals, much faster than previous methods, increasing productivity eight fold (requiring 12.5 man-hours before, 1 hour 33 minutes after), while using less manpower.It was so successful, paint became a bottleneck. Only Japan black would dry fast enough, forcing the company to drop the variety of colors available before 1914, until fast-drying Duco lacquer was developed in 1926. This is the source of Ford's apocryphal remark, "any color as long as it's black".In 1914, an assembly line worker could buy a Model T with four months' pay