You could explore how modern robotics and automation systems is interwoven into the manufacturing process. With today's CAD/CAM (computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing) technologies, a product can go straight from the engineer's drafting computer to mass production. Much research has been done in this area, such as the National Institute's of Standards and Technology exploration into vendor's incompatibility of programming languages used, and how this can be resolved.
Developed by Dr. Shigeo Shingo and colleagues, and implemented by Toyota, his philosophy on lean techniques and quality control was a groundbreaking revolution in manufacturing processes. You could write about how quality control was lax in the distant past, and how how his thoughts on lean and just-in-time manufacturing processes completely transformed the mindset of manufacturing.
It is common knowledge that in the 1800's child labor was used in factories, and children died daily due to no safety protocols. Today's manufacturing environment is vastly different, since managerial thought has evolved. You could trace these evolutionary steps, and write in great detail how human resource management has changed. Some points to touch upon in your thesis would be the rise of labor unions, laws passed and the development of government agencies, such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).