Mechanization

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Mechanization or mechanisation (BE) is providing human operators with machinery to assist them with the physical requirements of work. It can also refer to the use of machines to replace manual labor or animals. A step beyond mechanization is automation. The use of hand powered tools is not an example of mechanization.^{[citation needed]}

The term is most often used in industry. The addition of powered machine tools, such as the steam powered lathe dramatically reduced the amount of time needed to carry out various tasks, and improves productivity. Today very little construction of any sort is carried out with hand tools.

[edit] Military usage

Main article: mechanized force

The term is also used in the military to refer to the use of tracked armoured vehicles, particularly armoured personnel carriers, to move troops that would otherwise have marched or ridden trucks into combat. Mechanization dramatically improved the mobility and fighting capability of infantry. In the armed forces of industrialized countries, all infantry is typically mechanized, with the possible exception of airborne forces.^{[citation needed]}

Mechanization may also refer in the broader military sense to "motorization" or the replacement of horses with motor vehicles for all functions, including logistics, artillery tractors, etc.^{[citation needed]}