Some metal working processes were developed as early as 4000 B.C.. However, it was not until the begining of the Industrial Revolution in the 1750s (also referred to as the First Industrial Revolution) that automation begin to be introduced in the production of goods. Machine tools (such as turret lathes, autonmatic screw machines, and automatic bottle-making equipment) begin to be developed in tha late 1890s. Mass-production techniques and transfer machines were developed in the 1920s. These machines had fixed automatic machanisms and were designed to produce specific products best represted by the automobile industry which produced passenger cars at a high production rate and low cost.

   The major breakthrough in automation began with numerical control (NC) of machine tools. Since this historic development, rapid progress has been made in automating most aspects of manfacturing. These development involve the introduction of computers into automation, computerzied numerical control (CNC), adaptive control (AC), industrial robots, computer-aided design, engineering, and manufacturing (CAD/CAE/CAM), and computer-integrated manfacturing (CIM) systems.

   Manufacturing involves various levels of automation , depending on the processes used,the product desired, and production volumes. Manufacturing systems in order of increasing automation include the following classifications:

   Job shops: These facilities use general-purpose machines and machining centers with high levels of human labor involvement.

   Stand-alone NC production: This use numerically controlled machines but with signifficant operator/machine interaction.

   Manufacturing cells: These use a designed cluster of machines with integrated computer control and flexible material handling-often with industrial robots.

   Flexible manfacturing systems: These use computer control of all aspects of manufacturing, the simultaneous incorporation of a number of manufacturing cells, and automated material-handling systems.

   Flxible manfacturing lines: Organize computer-controlled machinery in production lines instead of cells. Part transfer is through hard automation, product flow is more limited than in flexible manfacturing systems, but the through put is larger for higher production quantities.

   Flowlines and transfer lines: Consist of organzied groupings of machinery with automated material handling between machines. The manufacturing line is designed with limited or no flexibility, since the goal is to produce a single part.