PRODUCT DESIGN CHOICES IN AMERICAN CAPITAL GOODS INDUSTRIES, 1850 - 1925
Standardization is a major theme in the literature of American industrial development with its focus on mass produced goods. By contrast, this artide considers the viability of standard product designs in three lines of batch produced capital goods — machine tools, steam locomotives, and stationary...
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Economic & Business History Society
1999
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:68001a751d004f81bc649f495f68e04e 2023-05-15T15:25:37+02:00 PRODUCT DESIGN CHOICES IN AMERICAN CAPITAL GOODS INDUSTRIES, 1850 - 1925 John Brown 1999-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doaj.org/article/68001a751d004f81bc649f495f68e04e EN eng Economic & Business History Society https://www.ebhsoc.org/journal/index.php/ebhs/article/view/311 https://doaj.org/toc/0896-226X 0896-226X https://doaj.org/article/68001a751d004f81bc649f495f68e04e Essays in Economic and Business History, Vol 17, Iss 1 (1999) Business HF5001-6182 Economic history and conditions HC10-1085 article 1999 ftdoajarticles 2022-12-31T02:38:22Z Standardization is a major theme in the literature of American industrial development with its focus on mass produced goods. By contrast, this artide considers the viability of standard product designs in three lines of batch produced capital goods — machine tools, steam locomotives, and stationary steam engines — from 1850 to 1925. Rigorous standardization could also offer notable advantages to builders of such heavy machinery. Yet it proved difficult to achieve largely because customers exerted a strong influence on design, blocking full product standardization. On the other hand, machinery makers found that true custom designs posed many production challenges. This article traces how American capital goods firms navigated between the conflicting demands of standard versus custom designs. Article in Journal/Newspaper Artide Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Business HF5001-6182 Economic history and conditions HC10-1085 |
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Business HF5001-6182 Economic history and conditions HC10-1085 John Brown PRODUCT DESIGN CHOICES IN AMERICAN CAPITAL GOODS INDUSTRIES, 1850 - 1925 |
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Business HF5001-6182 Economic history and conditions HC10-1085 |
description |
Standardization is a major theme in the literature of American industrial development with its focus on mass produced goods. By contrast, this artide considers the viability of standard product designs in three lines of batch produced capital goods — machine tools, steam locomotives, and stationary steam engines — from 1850 to 1925. Rigorous standardization could also offer notable advantages to builders of such heavy machinery. Yet it proved difficult to achieve largely because customers exerted a strong influence on design, blocking full product standardization. On the other hand, machinery makers found that true custom designs posed many production challenges. This article traces how American capital goods firms navigated between the conflicting demands of standard versus custom designs. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
John Brown |
author_facet |
John Brown |
author_sort |
John Brown |
title |
PRODUCT DESIGN CHOICES IN AMERICAN CAPITAL GOODS INDUSTRIES, 1850 - 1925 |
title_short |
PRODUCT DESIGN CHOICES IN AMERICAN CAPITAL GOODS INDUSTRIES, 1850 - 1925 |
title_full |
PRODUCT DESIGN CHOICES IN AMERICAN CAPITAL GOODS INDUSTRIES, 1850 - 1925 |
title_fullStr |
PRODUCT DESIGN CHOICES IN AMERICAN CAPITAL GOODS INDUSTRIES, 1850 - 1925 |
title_full_unstemmed |
PRODUCT DESIGN CHOICES IN AMERICAN CAPITAL GOODS INDUSTRIES, 1850 - 1925 |
title_sort |
product design choices in american capital goods industries, 1850 - 1925 |
publisher |
Economic & Business History Society |
publishDate |
1999 |
url |
https://doaj.org/article/68001a751d004f81bc649f495f68e04e |
genre |
Artide |
genre_facet |
Artide |
op_source |
Essays in Economic and Business History, Vol 17, Iss 1 (1999) |
op_relation |
https://www.ebhsoc.org/journal/index.php/ebhs/article/view/311 https://doaj.org/toc/0896-226X 0896-226X https://doaj.org/article/68001a751d004f81bc649f495f68e04e |
_version_ |
1766356209826267136 |