Watch Makers Discover Part Standardization

Like countless other consumer products, the wayresults. French Army and U.S. Army troops that
in which modern wrist watches are manufacturedhad been issued the gun quickly discovered that
has undergone incredible changes since thethe parts were not interchangeable, meaning that
Industrial Revolution that broke during the turn ofthe parts from one gun could not used on
twentieth century. This important period in worldanother.
history ushered in entirely new ways to massA second even more serious drawback was that
produce products for a growing world population.the loading and firing mechanism in the guns would
In every facet of manufacturing there wereoften jamb owing to the lack of integrated quality
incredible technological advances that improvedcontrol methods. All in all, the Chauchat was a
efficiencies and helped reduce production costs.disaster for the troops that had rely in it during
Most of us have heard about the way Henrythe brutality of trench warfare.
Ford changed the way automobiles were built byA far less daunting problem was faced by those
developing the production line assembly method.in the watch making and watch repair business.
Cars would constantly roll off the Ford assemblyLike the Chauchat, the parts from one brand or
line as workers would fit various parts to theeven model of watch could not used to repair the
chassis in a precise order and within asame make and model. A major change in how
predetermined time.watch parts were designed and manufactured
What few of us think about are the othercame from the Bulova Watch Company.
changes that made this type manufacturingIn the early nineteen twenties Bulova introduced
operation possible. Absolutely critical to thethe world's first wrist watch designs that
success of the mass production line was theincorporated standardized parts manufactured to
development of standardized parts, componentsvery close tolerances. The major benefit to this
that are nearly identical to each other.change in engineering and design strategy was
Prior to the development of mass productionthat watch makers could use the parts from one
assembly lines, most mechanical assemblies,Bulova watch to repair any other Bulova watch
including watches were built from componentsregardless of the model. Another additional benefit
that were made individually most often byto watch repairers was the ability to keep spare
different producers. This meant that very often,parts on hand and as a result, the time needed to
parts from one machine be it a car, locomotive orrepair a Bulova watch was greatly reduced.
sewing machine, could be not be used on anotherAs other watch producers adopted the practice
machine.of parts standardization and integrated quality
A good example of the obvious draw backs tocontrol, the reliability of wrist watches was greatly
building machines individually can be seen in a tragicincreased. The use of standardized components
story from World War One. The Frenchmeant that those parts that subject to wear did
developed a machine gun, the Chauchat that wasso in more consistent and predictable way,
built one at a time by individual craftsmen. Thoughrequiring far less maintenance and repair than
the plans for the gun called for the samethose timepieces assembled as one of kind items.
dimensions, differing production methods and theSadly, as with most old line businesses that saw
whim of the builder resulted in each weaponsignificant change and as watches became more
literally being a one of a kind creation.trouble free, the once wide spread trade of
For the troops in the field, this nonstandard waywatch repair has largely disappeared.
of manufacturing had tragic sometimes fatal