Henry Ford is famous for making automobiles. But what makes him important is how he made them.
Ford began to make automobiles in the 1890s. One day in 1903 he was talking to a friend about the best way to do this. "The real way is to make one like another, as much alike as pins or matches," he said. The friend said that he did not believe that this was possible. "The principle is just the same", Ford replied. "All you need is more space".
Ford tried out his idea with an automobile called the Model T. Like Whitney's guns, every Model T was put together or assembled from exactly the same parts. The cars were even painted the same color. "A customer can have an automobile painted any color that he wants," Ford is supposed to have said, "so long as it is black."
This use of identical parts in manufacturing is called "standardization". Ford added to it the idea of a moving assembly line. The idea of the assembly line is to save time. It does this by positioning workers in a factory in one place and taking work to them.
Ford first used an assembly line to make magnetos for his Model Ts. By the old method one man on his own did this job from start to finish. Ford divided the work into twenty-one separate actions. A different man carried out each one as the magneto moved past him on a moving belt called a "conveyor". The change reduced the time taken to put together a magneto from twenty minutes to five.
In 1913 Ford started to use assembly-line methods to make the complete Model T. As the cars moved along on a conveyor, dozens of workmen each carried out a single operation-tightening certain nuts or fixing certain parts. By the time a car reached the end of the line it was complete. I was filled up with gasoline and driven off ready for the road. Making a car in this new way took 1 hour and 33 minutes. Making one previously had taken 12 hours and 28 minutes.
By combining standardization and the assembly line Ford showed manufacturers of all kinds how to produce goods cheaply and in large quantities. Because of this he is seen as the father of 20th century mass production.
Henry Ford and Mass Production written by Herminne Tonita for FamousWhy.com
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by Herminne Tonita -