Mechanize

Mechanize refers to the process of introducing machinery into a task or production line in order to perform work that was previously done by hand. The aim is typically to increase productivity, consistency, and safety by substituting human labor with machines or power-driven devices. The term is commonly applied in manufacturing, agriculture, and construction. Mechanization developed with industrial advancement, evolving from simple tools powered by human or animal effort to powered machines and complex systems. It is distinct from automation: mechanization replaces physical labor with machines but often still involves human oversight, while automation relies on control systems to operate with minimal human intervention.

In agriculture, mechanization includes the use of tractors, harvesters, and threshers to handle planting, cultivating, and harvesting tasks. In manufacturing, it covers power tools, machine tools, and assembly lines designed to perform repetitive or dangerous operations with higher speed and precision than human labor alone. Mechanization can improve efficiency and safety but may also impact employment and require capital investment and maintenance.

In computing, mechanize refers to software libraries that enable a program to emulate a human user interacting with a web browser. These tools manage navigation, form submission, cookies, and session state, and are used for web scraping, testing, and automated tasks. The best-known examples include the Perl module WWW::Mechanize and similar libraries in Python and other languages.

See also: automation; robotics; industrial revolution.