manufacturing history

Engineers Take the Spotlight in Chicago and Milwaukee

Austin Weber

February 7, 2020

Museum exhibits highlight some of the many products that were once made in Chicago and Milwaukee factories

8,000th Apprentice Starts Career with Bühler

December 3, 2019

UZWIL, Switzerland—Bühler Group has officially trained 8,000 apprentices globally over a 100-year history of vocational training.

One 'Giant Leap' for Manufacturing

Austin Weber

July 19, 2019

Fifty years ago, assembly lines stretching from Long Island to Los Angeles produced millions of complex parts that made the first moon landing possible.

America’s Most Destructive Industrial Fire

When an inferno destroyed General Motors’ transmission factory in Livonia, MI, it plunged the automaker into a monumental crisis.

Tim Trainor

May 8, 2019

When General Motors opened the Detroit Transmission plant in Livonia, MI, in 1949, the 1.5-million-square-foot facility sym-bolized the resounding success of the most popular component in American automobiles—the Hydra-Matic Drive transmis-sion.

New Book Examines Chicago’s Manufacturing Heritage

April 10, 2019

CHICAGO—A new book entitled Made in Chicago examines the important role that manufacturing played in the history and growth of the Windy City.

Ford's Rouge Assembly Plant Turns 100

Vertical integration once thrived at Ford’s legendary manufacturing complex.

Austin Weber

March 14, 2019

It has witnessed the production of some of the most iconic vehicles in history. It's also a veteran of two world wars and the Great Depression. And, it played a pivotal role in American labor history. Ford Motor Co.'s iconic manufacturing complex on the banks of the Rouge River in Dearborn, MI, has seen it all.

How Ford's Willow Run Assembly Plant Helped Win World War II

The Willow Run bomber plant made aviation, industrial and social history—along with new B-24s by the hour.

Tim Trainor

January 3, 2019

President Roosevelt stunned millions of listeners when he announced during a May 26, 1940, fireside chat that government must "harness the efficient machinery of America's manufacturers" to produce 50,000 combat aircraft over the next 12 months to confront the "approaching storm" of global war.

Finally, Some Good News for Flint!

Austin Weber

May 30, 2017

General Motors recently restored Durant-Dort Factory One, considered to be the company’s birthplace and epicenter of the global auto industry.

A Century of GE Appliance Manufacturing

GE Appliances have a long history of innovation in product development and on the assembly line.

John Sprovieri

March 29, 2017

In June 2016,, General Electric sold its century-old appliances business to Chinese manufacturer Quingdao Haier Co. Ltd. for $5.4 billion. GE Appliance’s headquarters will remain in Louisville, KY, and the agreement calls for the business to continue to market the current portfolio of GE brands for at least 40 years.

General Electric Leads the Way in Locomotive Manufacturing

General Electric has a long history of assembling locomotives

Austin Weber

March 29, 2017

General Electric Co. is the world’s largest builder of diesel-electric locomotives. Its products are used by numerous railroads to haul freight and passengers. Thousands of GE machines are in operation every day throughout the world.