the american mechanical engineer who sought to improve industrial efficiency was
Frederick Winslow Taylor Frederick Winslow Taylor (March 20, 1856 â€“ March 21, 1915) was an American mechanical engineer who sought to improve industrial efficiency.[2] He was one of the first management consultants.[3] Taylor was one of the intellectual leaders of the Efficiency Movement and his ideas, broadly conceived, were highly influential in the Progressive Era (1890s-1920s). Taylor summed up his efficiency techniques in his 1911 book The Principles of Scientific Management, which in 2001 Fellows of the Academy of Management voted the most influential management book of the twentieth century.[4] His pioneering work in applying engineering principles to the work done on the factory floor was instrumental in the creation and development of the branch of engineering that is now known as industrial engineering. Taylor made his name in, and was most proud of his work in, scientific management; however, he made his fortune patenting steel-process improvements. Taylor was also an athlete who competed nationally in tennis and golf.
History of the steel industry (1850–1970) From 1875 to 1920 American steel production grew from 380,000 tons to 60 million tons annually, making the U.S. the world leader. The annual growth rates in steel 1870â€“1913 were 7.0% for the US; 1.0% for Britain; 6.0% for Germany; and 4.3% for France, Belgium and Russia, the other major producers.[29] This explosive American growth rested on solid technological foundations, assisted by other factors, including African-American forced convict labor, the protective tariff and the continuous rapid expansion of urban infrastructures, office buildings, factories, railroads, bridges and other sectors that increasingly demanded steel. The use of steel in automobiles and household appliances came in the 20th century.