Vail - artisan versus the assembly line

The case of the artisan versus the assembly line provides a similar example of technic-knowledge. The artisan, an individual who crafts a product through the entire chain of events needed to add value for an outside user, has the complete set of knowledge needed to perform the transformation.
For example, the watchmaker transforms metal through a variety of phases until it has reached the stage of a finished watch.
Similarly the potter makes clay into finished pottery, the carpenter makes trees into furniture, etc. Each has the power to transform a material into a value-added product.

Opposite the artisan stands the case of the assembly line. In the assembly line, individuals perform highly specialized segments of the value-adding process, but none have the knowledge to affect the full transformation.

The use of the technology of specialization provides more efficient production, from the perspective of the capitalist, but a loss of power for the individual.

Instead of the individual artisan, the assembly line holds the power over its human components. The production knowledge exists embedded in the process and outside of the control of the individual. The assembly line serves as an example of technology in control of people(I'm a little dubious about this statement).