Editing Mechanization (section)

{{Short description|Process of changing from working by hand or with animals to work with machinery}}

[[Image:Agricola1.jpg|thumb|right|A water-powered [[Hoist (device)#Mine hoists|mine hoist]] used for raising ore.  This  woodblock is from ''[[De re metallica]]'' by George Bauer (pen name [[Georgius Agricola]], ca. 1555) an early mining textbook that contains numerous drawings and descriptions of mining equipment.]]

'''Mechanization''' (or '''mechanisation''') is the process of changing from working largely or exclusively by hand or with animals to doing that work with machinery.  In an early engineering text, a machine is defined as follows:

{{blockquote|Every machine is constructed for the purpose of performing certain mechanical operations, each of which supposes the existence of two other things besides the machine in question, namely, a moving power, and an object subject to the operation, which may be termed the work to be done.
Machines, in fact, are interposed between the power and the work, for the purpose of adapting the one to the other.<ref>{{cite book |title=Principles of Mechanism: Designed For The Use Of Students In The Universities And For Engineering Students Generally |last=Willis |first= Robert |year=1861 |publisher =John W. Parker |location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1CCEKSqQaqcC&pg=PA1}}</ref>}}

In every fields, mechanization includes the use of hand tools. In modern usage, such as in engineering or economics, mechanization implies [[machine]]ry more complex than hand tools and would not include simple devices such as an ungeared horse or donkey mill. Devices that cause speed changes or changes to or from reciprocating to rotary motion, using means such as [[gear]]s, [[pulley]]s or [[line shaft|sheaves]] and belts, [[drive shaft|shafts]], [[Cam (mechanism)|cam]]s and [[Crank (mechanism)|cranks]], usually are considered machines.  After [[electrification]], when most small machinery was no longer hand powered, mechanization was synonymous with motorized machines.<ref>Jerome (1934) gives the industry classification of machine tools as being "other than hand power". Beginning with the 1900 U.S. census, power use was part of the definition of a FACTORY
, distinguishing it from a workshop.</ref> Extension of mechanization of the production process is termed as [[automation]] and it is controlled by a [[Feedback|closed loop]] system in which feedback is provided by the sensors. In an automated machine the work of different mechanisms is performed automatically.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20190417084318/https://mechanicalsite.com/mechanization-automation Mechanization & Automation]}}, Mechanical Engineering Community, retrieved 2018-04-17.</ref>