The term is most often used in industry. The addition of powered machine tools, such as the steam powered Lathe dramatically reduced the amount of time needed to carry out various tasks, and improves productivity. Today very little construction of any sort is carried out with hand tools.
The term is also used in the military to refer to the use of tracked armoured vehicles, particularly armoured personnel carriers, to move troops that would otherwise have marched or ridden trucks into combat. Mechanization dramatically improved the mobility and fighting capability of Infantry. In the armed forces of industrialized countries, all infantry is typically mechanized, with the possible exception of airborne forces.