Editing Gustavus Franklin Swift (section)

==Vertical integration==
[[File:Swift Brands South Chicago IL meat packing plant circa 1917.jpg|thumb|A view of the Swift Brands [[Sioux City, Iowa]], meat-packing plant, ''circa'' 1917. All but one of the [[refrigerator car]]s in the photo bear the markings of the Swift Refrigerator Line.]]

The meat packing plants of Chicago were among the first to utilize [[assembly line]] (or in this case, disassembly-line) production techniques.<ref>Hessen</ref> [[Henry Ford]] states in his autobiography ''My Life and Work'' that it was a visit to a Chicago slaughterhouse which opened his eyes to the virtues of employing a moving conveyor system and fixed work stations in industrial applications. These practices symbolize the concept of "rationalized organization of work" to this day.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}}

Swift adapted the methods of the industrial revolution to meat packing operations, which resulted in huge efficiency by allowing his plants to produce on a massive scale. The work was divided into myriad specific sub-tasks, which were carried out under the direction of supervisory personnel. Swift & Co. was broken down organizationally into various divisions, each one responsible for conducting a different aspect of the business of "bringing meat from the ranch to the consumer". By developing a [[vertical integration|vertically integrated]] company, Swift was able to control the sale of his meats from the slaughterhouse to the local butcher shop.<ref>Chandler, p. 70</ref>

Swift devoted a great deal of time to indoctrinating employees and teaching them the company's methods and policies. His employees also had fair wages, whether it was man or women. He also motivated his employees to focus on the company's profit goals by adhering to a strict policy of promotion from within. The innovations that Swift championed not only revolutionized the meat packing industry, but also played a vital role in establishing the modern American business system, with an emphasis on [[mass production]], functional specialization, managerial expertise, national distribution networks, and adaptation to technological innovation. {{peacock inline|date=March 2024}}{{cn|date=March 2024}}