Henry Ford Assembly Line

Henry Ford and the Assembly Line Henry Ford Revolutionized the automobile Industry. He found ways to make manufacturing less complicated and cheaper. He found ways to do many things better. He went through tough times to make the best for himself and for his workers. Many people saw him as a hero and a great humanitarian. He really kicked off the automobile industry for the common people. Henry was born on a small farm in Detroit, Michigan. He grew up helping at the family farm and soon began getting into automobiles. His first job was at Michigan Car Works. He worked there over the summer and left there and began to work at the Dry Dock Engine Company. He learned much about cars and was interested in them after working with these companies.

After that he found ways to become cheaper than the rest of the cars on the marker. He wanted to manufacturer cars for as inexpensive as possible and still have a sturdy frame. He finished and drove his first car in 1896. He worked with Thomas Edison, the famous inventor, where he saw Ford’s ideas and told him to keep trying because he could become very successful. Ford listened and partnered up with a few guys and formed the Detroit Automobile Company. It didn’t work out after a year and his partners left and formed the Cadillac Motor Company in 1902. A year later, Ford decided to form his own company and he called it Ford Motor Company. He began making his first production car, the Model A. He began making expensive cars since he didn’t have ways to lower cost being a small company. They were semi-luxury vehicles. He didn’t have a tremendous amount of success, but he proved that he was a factor in the automobile industry. He soon became big with one decision. He would make the Model T. (Henry,

It was inexpensive at $850 and it was sturdy. Other vehicles were only for the rich. They had all the options and high quality materials and cars were not common. Other cars cost as much as five times as much as the Model T. It was an instant success. So many people wanted a Model T that they had to expand their manufacturing. They built a new plant in Highland Park. He wanted to use a new technology there to make the process quicker and cheaper. He was inspired by meat packing houses how the process was swift, smooth, and cheap. He made the assembly line. The assembly line consisted of a rope pulling the cars and 89 men at certain stations doing different assigned tasks at each station. They used interchangeable parts, so all cars consisted of the same parts. This made manufacturing simpler and cheaper. He increased the minimum wage for his worker and people saw him as a hero because he didn’t have to do it, but he did for the sake of his employees. He also shortened the work hours from 12 hours to 9 hours, which his employees were happy about too. Soon everyone wanted to work at Ford Motor Company because of these improvements. He made a profit sharing plan. Which meant that he had complete control about the company. This lowered the cost of manufacturing even more. This made the cars sell for only $350. He was the leading manufacturer for most of the 20th century, only because others used his methods too.