Tools & manufacturing · 1771

Factory system

Workers, machines and power gathered under one roof on a schedule.

Arkwright's Cromford Mill opened in 1771 and ran in shifts around the clock. The model of centralized, powered production spread across industry and transformed economies.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 1

Water frame 1769

What it led to 4

Continuous paper machine 1803
Mechanical reaper 1831
Typewriter 1868
Scientific management 1911

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Annual working hours in the UK since 1260 Latest: 1.67k hours per worker (2016) Source: Our World in Data

GDP per capita in England/UK since 1000 Latest: 38.4k int.-$ (2011) (2022) Source: Our World in Data

Share of people living in cities Latest: 57.5 % (2025) Source: Our World in Data