Under the commission system the employer's main interest was directed towards marketing the laborers' product. Under the factory system the employer not only markets the product but he also organizes and directs production. He brings together workers who are able to perform the various operations required in making the product and he furnishes them with a work place. He secures the requisite tools and machinery and he purchases the materials upon which the laborers are to work. He multiplies wonderfully the efficiency of the workers by harnessing mechanical powers such as steam and electricity to perform the more laborious tasks. He divides and simplifies the work and assigns workmen to the tasks according to their skill and strength. In this manner he economizes labor. The factory system, it has been well said, compares with the commission system as a well-organized and well-equipped regular army compares with a motley volunteer militia. The change from the commission system to the factory system brought such important consequences for industry that it is usually referred to as the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution which took place in England in the latter part of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century involved great improvements in the methods of agriculture and transportation as well as in those of industry. But the change to the factory system which accompanied the division of labor and the introduction of improved machinery was the most prominent feature.