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Even in the 1800s, bottles and other containers
made from glass were precious. Produced by hand, bottles were too expensive for
use as “packaging” for milk, beer, and other products. A team of 6 men and
several boys, working a 12-hour day, were lucky if they could manufacture 2,800
bottles. In 1903, an Ohio inventor named Michael J. Owens invented a machine
that changed the world. The machine produced 9 bottles a minute – 13,000 a day –
and only two workers were needed to operate it. Other Ohio innovations in
manufacturing have changed the world. They include the common self-opening
grocery sack, tires, bearings, steel, automobiles, cash registers, and pop-top
cans. Organization and management move modern manufacturing processes through
the key stages that culminate in the final product. They include finding and
preparing raw materials; shaping, joining, and assembling; coating, testing,
inspecting, and finally packaging. As these stories illustrate, Ohio long has
had a rich heritage as a dominant force in manufacturing, albeit less so than it
used to be as we shift to a new economy. Contrary to popular understanding, that
transition has always been in the making. Organizational, technological and
economic efficiency and hence lower per-unit production costs have always been
a goal for the application of new tools, techniques and technology to
manufacturing. We are here; we are there; we are everywhere.
Thus, ubiquitous products from Ohio manufacturing have ruled the world.

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