Henry Ford Automobile Production
Most people think of Henry Ford as the man who invented the automobile, but his influence on the American society was far greater and will last for all time. Ford changed the face of the nation and set the stage for the entrepreneurs of today. He helped develop the infrastructure for automobiles, including roads and gas stations. He set a minimum wage for his workers. He shortened the workday. And, he created a successful assembly line for automobile mass production. He helped to create this nation's middle class and acted to allow the workingman to realize some dreams. Ford was an autocrat but he believed firmly in the "little guy." In 1905, there were more than 50 companies each year trying to break into the automobile business; most of them did not succeed.1 Ford did. He had financial backers who believed the way to maximize the company's profits was to build cars for the rich, but Ford had another idea -- he believed the workers who built the cars should be able to afford to buy one themselves. He thought those workers should be able to take their families out for a spin in their cars on Sunday afternoons. Ford resisted his backer's demands and followed his own beliefs and eventually j
By 1914, his Highland Park plant was churning out a car every 93 minutes. Farmers could buy tractor wheels for it that replaced the rear axle wheels. He took ideas already available, such as the conveyor belt and improved the idea for use in his automobile production factories. This led Ford to investigate conveyor belts and how he could use them to increase production and lower costs. Ford had designed a car that was easy to manufacture and one that could be owned by a large number of people. The competing companies did not use standard gauging systems and the tools of the day could not cut hardened steel so all the components were machined and cut to shape, then put in ovens to harden. Henry Ford's Model T: The Car that Started it All. It was also a remarkably versatile vehicle. ust bought out his investors' interests so he could run the company exactly as he thought it should be run. Ford's vision not only created a middle class in this country, he fostered urbanization and rising wages. He began this process in 1908 with his first Model T. In 1924, Ford reduced the price of his Model T to $290. Their crude, craft-based production techniques left each automobile costing the same amount no matter how many they built.
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