ABSTRACT
Developments in mass production were very much later in getting under way in Britain than in the United States. In 1919 some British industrial leaders visited the United States and Canada to study new industrial developments, and particularly mass production. In the locomotive field, Mr. R. B. McColl, a Scotsman who had had considerable experience in both Canada and the United States on modern mass-production methods, came to England about the same time. Sir Ernest Lemon undertook to produce first wooden and then composite railway carriages on mass production methods. One of the fundamental reasons behind the success of American mass production of motor cars was volume—the maximum volume and the minimum of variety. In an industry where volume is important, rather more than two hundred British companies shared between them less work than was handled by the United States Steel Corporation alone. British ships were built at about 60 per cent of the American price of ships per ton.
