Putting-out system

Common card · No. 232009

The putting-out system, also known historically as the domestic system or workshop system, was a method of subcontracting production in which a central agent, often a merchant or manufacturer, distributed raw materials to workers who completed the work in their own homes or small workshops. This system was widely used in pre-industrial Europe and early America, particularly in the textile industry, shoemaking, lock-making, and the production of small firearm parts. It flourished from the late Middle Ages through the Industrial Revolution, gradually declining in the mid-19th century with the rise of centralized factory production.

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