Searching books about developing mfg companies in 1700,1800,1900,2000 ?

[Kall545]

Hello
Searching books about developing technical manufacturing companies 1700,1800,1900,2000 ?
- Like machine shops and such. How things changed and how they prepared for future in different times ? (No food companies or any specialities just technical companies)
- Like what happened: when steam engines came, when electric lights came, when electrical motors came, when plastics came, when CNC machines came and when microchips came, what will happen when 3D-printers arrive ?
- How mfg companies reacted to these changes ?
- How things were done back then in different years ?
- What aspects were important in production and designing ?
- and such books...

Is the there a single book that has all these things ?
Not rich enough to buy every company biography book (which exists 1000s).

 

[CheckerHater]

Have you tried Google?

Quick search brings something like this:

https://books.google.com/books?id=E... mfg companies in 1700,1800,1900,2000&f=false

Or this:

https://books.google.com/books?id=t... mfg companies in 1700,1800,1900,2000&f=false

"For every expert there is an equal and opposite expert"
Arthur C. Clarke Profiles of the future

 

[CWB1]

Being an avid reader of industrial history I would give a resolute "heck no" to your question. There are many introductory level college texts which attempt to be all-encompassing for a given time period, however the main issue I see is the limited space in them tends to leave out many important milestones and changes in companies, technology, and the world over time. They also often are written by folks with little appreciation or practical experience in industry, and often retell the same stories using the same companies as examples over and over. Rather than read any single author or text, I would recommend starting with an industry that interests you and researching its history over time. Many old companies have written history texts, some published regular employee yearbooks, and many of their employees have/had auto/biographies written about them. Being in the auto industry I have collected many of the books written about the famous leaders like Henry Ford but also lesser known industry leaders like Charles Sorenson and Charles Kettering, often their accounts are a bit more honest, direct, and harsh at times, explaining more of the political and people "whys" behind events.

As for cost, local libraries are a good place to start if free is your favorite word. In case you are unaware, many (thousands) public and university libraries today are part of the "WorldCat" system which allows them to borrow books from each other around the globe, often free to patrons or for a small $1-2 fee, and their website provides a free book search. If you find something good or want cheap buying otherwise, I find the best stuff in used book stores and library book sales but the web is a great tool too. I'm frugal as heck and commonly hate paying more than $10 for a book, rarely do btw.

 

[Sparweb]

That's an interesting subject, Kalleboy,

Somewhat in line with CWB1's reply, I could suggest a "corporate history" book that I read recently that covers this.
"The CAE Story" is about CAE Electronics, the Canadian company that builds flight simulators. There are many stories in that book about these transitions - in fact technology transition is a frequent subject throughout the book, especially in the early parts of the company's history, which moved from radio repair, to radar station maintenance, and even aircraft structural overhauls, before settling on the simulator business. Even then, starting to build simulators BEFORE the computer age meant that to stay competitive they had to get on the leading edge of computer technology in their simulators.

Also somewhat similar, "Digital Apollo" by David Mindell is a detailed account of the near-invention of "systems engineering" which basically didn't exist until the space program, and now is known as "program management" because the MBA's have control of it now. But back then people didn't really think that way, and Mindell's book is all about people who were able to wrap their heads around these concepts and put them into practice.

The Wright Brothers were known by the public as bicycle makers, then plane inventors... as if lightning struck and it happened overnight. Actually it took 20 years, and they turned their bike shop into a mechanical engineering prototyping and testing laboratory to do it. They didn't have access to the budget or equipment that a university research lab would have, which is one of the most important aspects of the story, and what makes it (to me at least) the most admirable.

Sorry, I don't have much to suggest before the 20th century. Perhaps a search on the "Trevithik" rail engines in England would produce some stories of interest.


STF