Late 19th century invented the internal combustion engine after years of improvement, become light and small, high efficiency, easy to control, and can start the prime mover at any time. Was first used to drive landless work without electricity, and later for cars, mobile machinery and ships, the mid-20th century began for railway locomotives. Steam engine in the steam turbine and internal combustion engine under the exclusion, is no longer an important power machinery. Internal combustion engine and later invented the gas turbine, jet engine development, aircraft, spacecraft and other successful development of one of the basic technical factors.

Before the industrial revolution, machinery was mostly made of wood by woodworking. Metal (mainly copper, iron) is only used to make small parts on instruments, locks, watches, pumps and wood structures. Metal processing mainly rely on the mechanic Seiko secret agents, in order to achieve the required accuracy. The promotion of steam turbine power plants, as well as the development of large machinery such as mines, metallurgy, ships, locomotives and so on, require more and more metal parts for forming and cutting and growing, and the accuracy required is more and more high. Application of metal materials from copper, iron to steel-based development.

Machining includes forging, forging, sheet metalworking, welding, heat treatment and other technology and equipment, as well as cutting technology and machine tools, tools, measuring tools, etc., has been rapid development, to ensure that the development of the industry required for the production of machinery and equipment supply. Social and economic development, the demand for mechanical products soared. The increase in production volume and the progress of precision machining techniques have contributed to the formation of mass production methods such as interchangeable parts production, professional division of labor and collaboration, pipelining lines and assembly lines.

Simple interchangeable parts and professional division of labor production, the ancient has appeared. In mechanical engineering, the interchangeability was first demonstrated by the bolts and nuts produced by Molt Lee in 1797 using its created thread lathes. In the same period, US engineer Whitney used interchangeable production methods to produce guns, showing the interchangeability of the feasibility and superiority. This method of production in the United States gradually promote the formation of the so-called "American production methods."