What industrial practice led to reduced costs in factories and increased production?

The practice of specialization significantly contributed to reduced costs in factories and increased production levels. Specialization refers to the technique where workers focus on a specific task or job, allowing them to become highly skilled and efficient in that particular area. This division of labor means that tasks are completed more quickly and with greater expertise, which lowers the time and resources needed to produce goods.

When workers dedicate their efforts to a single aspect of production, operations streamline, and bottlenecks are minimized. The efficiency gained from specialization allows for a larger volume of goods to be produced in less time, which helps to reduce overall production costs. Companies can also benefit from economies of scale, allowing them to spread costs over a larger output as specialized tasks enhance the speed and consistency of production processes.

Other methods like innovation, automation, and standardization also contribute to operational efficiency, but in this context, specialization directly addresses the efficiency of the workforce and the benefits arising from concentrated skill sets among workers.