Henry Ford's Invention Of The Assembly Line

Throughout history, technology has had great advances that effected more areas than one. The acronym PERSIA stands for the systematic model that represents these six categories, political, economic, religious, intellectual, and aesthetic. The PERSIA subsets are all individually influenced by the development of new technology. Breaking these categories up into labeled sections allows for a greater and more specific understanding of the impact technology had in society throughout history. In Henry Ford’s invention of the assembly line, he mostly enhanced the areas of economic, social, intellectual, and aesthetic. First, it is important to understand the individual subsets of the PERSIA model. Political stands for, “the influence of technology

Henry Ford first started his process towards the assembly line when he introduced the Model T in 1908. The Model T was the very first motor vehicle. It was a simple and quite inexpensive, but not everyone was able to afford it, and production of these vehicles took time. Ford’s goal was for every person to obtain a Model T vehicle. “When I’m through, about everybody will have one” (“History.com”, 2009). With the pace of his team’s production, it would be a long time before everyone would own a Model T, and be able to afford it. Ford had to come up with an alternate plan. While he is analyzing his situation, he is targeting the economic category of PERSIA, because he is focusing on the society as a whole. His target is not an individual or a small group, he wants every person to obtain his invention, which then effects the economy as a whole. In the early 1900’s, the population of New York City was greatly increasing with every year. More immigrants were coming through Ellis Island and settling in the city. This increased Henry Ford’s demand greatly due to the influx of people. Streets were becoming crowded and the only convenient transportation was the newly opened subway system in 1905. Citizens on New York City needed an easier way to get around individually, rather then in bulk. This then brings Ford’s focus of his project into the social aspect. People are

He broke down the vehicle’s assembly into specific steps and assigned each of his employees to do that procedure repeatedly. This process led him to the invention of the assembly line. The continuous-flow production methods used by flour mills, breweries, etc., inspired Ford to use the same method to quickly assemble his automobiles, and anything else being manufactured (“History.com”, 2009). Ford’s use of conveyor belts started what is to be known as the assembly line. As he continued to improve and perfect his new invention, his belt was moving at about six feet per minute, increasing his production rate tremendously. Henry Ford was able to build the basis of factory work by feeding off his invention of the Model T. He was determined to find a way to increase speed, quality, and production of his vehicles in order for them to be wide spread. His creation of the assembly line changed the way manufacturing was done forever. This falls under the category of intellect in the PERSIA model because he invented a machine, as well as the first car, that is used as the basis for all automobiles and mechanical