How did the moving assembly line affect the production of model t automobiles?

Photo: Moving assembly line at Ford Motor Company's Michigan plant

In 1907, Henry Ford announced his goal for the Ford Motor Company: to create "a motor car for the great multitude." At that time, automobiles were expensive, custom-made machines.

Ford's engineers took the first step towards this goal by designing the Model T, a simple, sturdy car, offering no factory options -- not even a choice of color. The Model T, first produced in 1908, kept the same design until the last one -- number 15,000,000 -- rolled off the line in 1927. From the start, the Model T was less expensive than most other cars, but it was still not attainable for the "multitude." Ford realized he'd need a more efficient way to produce the car in order to lower the price. He and his team looked at other industries and found four principles that would further their goal: interchangeable parts, continuous flow, division of labor, and reducing wasted effort.

Using interchangeable parts meant making the individual pieces of the car the same every time. That way any valve would fit any engine, any steering wheel would fit any chassis. This meant improving the machinery and cutting tools used to make the parts. But once the machines were adjusted, a low-skilled laborer could operate them, replacing the skilled craftsperson who formerly made the parts by hand. To improve the flow of the work, it needed to be arranged so that as one task was finished, another began, with minimum time spent in set-up. Ford was inspired by the meat-packing houses of Chicago and a grain mill conveyor belt he had seen. If he brought the work to the workers, they spent less time moving about. Then he divided the labor by breaking the assembly of the Model T into 84 distinct steps. Each worker was trained to do just one of these steps. Ford called in Frederick Taylor, the creator of "scientific management," to do time and motion studies to determine the exact speed at which the work should proceed and the exact motions workers should use to accomplish their tasks.

Ford put these principles into play gradually over five years, fine-tuning and testing as he went along. In 1913, they came together in the first moving assembly line ever used for large-scale manufacturing. Ford produced cars at a record-breaking rate. That meant he could lower the price and still make a good profit by selling more cars. Ford had another notion, rather original in its time: the workers were also potential consumers! In 1914, Ford workers' wages were raised to $5 a day -- an excellent wage -- and they soon proved him right by buying their own Model Ts. Ford was called "a traitor to his class" by other industrialists and professionals, but he held firm in believing that well-paid workers would put up with dull work, be loyal, and buy his cars.

Ford's manufacturing principles were adopted by countless other industries. Henry Ford went beyond his 1907 goal of making cars affordable for all; he changed the habits of a nation, and shaped its very character.

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Next time when you see a product being rolled out in an Assembly Line, for a moment remember "Henry Ford". 

Mr. Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 - April 7, 1947) was an American automobile manufacturer who created the Model T in 1908 and went on to develop the assembly line mode of production, which revolutionized the automotive industry. Although Henry Ford did not invent the automobile nor the assembly line, but more than any other single individual, he was responsible for transforming the automobile from an invention of unknown utility into an innovation that profoundly shaped the 20th century and continues to affect our lives today.

Innovation was a way of life for Henry Ford. And Innovators change things. They take new ideas, sometimes their own, sometimes other people’s, and develop and promote those ideas until they become an accepted part of daily life. Innovation requires self-confidence, a taste for taking risks, leadership ability and a vision of what the future should be. Henry Ford had all these characteristics which he developed from his years first as a farm mechanic, then as a business pioneer and as a business magnate. He was a life long learner. 

In 1922, Henry Ford wrote his first book "My Life and Work". I would rate it as an entrepreneur's bible. If you are thinking to start a business of your own or become an "intrapreneur" within the organization, you need to go through this book to get inspired. The chapters on "What is an idea", "The secret of manufacturing and serving", "machines and men", "Money and Goods", and "Money - Master or Servant" are just superb. 

1. Henry Ford was the one who launched the famous black "Model T" Car. When it rolled out in 1908 was hailed as America's everyman car. This car was launched despite all odds - when everyone advised to Ford that a car is meant for the rich since it is the only way to maximise profits. 

By the time production of Model T ceased in 1927, more than 1.5 crore cars had been sold (which was half the world's output). He made this possible by institutionalising industrial mass production and also focused on mass consumption. He figured out that if he paid his factory workers a real living wage and produced more cars in less time for less money everyone would buy them. 

2. In 1913, Ford launched the first moving assembly line for the mass production of the automobile. This new technique decreased the amount of time it took to build a car from 12 hours to two and a half, which in turn lowered the cost of the Model T from $850 in 1908 to $310 by 1926 for a much-improved model. 

Ford's factories would become famous for their low-cost, standardized mass production. 

Obsessed with wasted worker motions, Henry Ford divided labour into small, specialized tasks, and installed conveyor belts to carry parts into the assembly lines in 1912. The system became one continuous, moving chain by 1914. 

Ford was said to have been inspired by the animal "disassembly" line of Chicago's meatpacking operations. These production techniques further lowered unit production costs and allowed Ford to thrive.

3. In 1914, Ford introduced the $5 wage for an eight-hour workday ($130 or INR 10,000 per day in 2020), more than double what workers were previously making on average, as a method of keeping the best workers loyal to his company. 

4. More than for his profits, Ford became renowned for his revolutionary vision: the manufacture of an inexpensive automobile made by skilled workers who earn steady wages and enjoyed a five-day, 40-hour work week.

5. Henry Ford was the inventor of dealer-franchisee system to sell and service cars. Just like politics is local, he figured out that business is also local and the dealer system is the best option to serve the customers. 

6. Henry Ford worked on making sure that an automotive infrastructure developed along with the cars. Just like horses, cars also had to be fed on the way. He pushed for gas stations everywhere. 

7. The interstate-highway system in USA got developed after Henry Ford campaigned for better roads for his Cars. His vision created a middle class in the USA - the one marked by urbanization, rising wages and some free time to spend with the family.

The life of Henry Ford inspires us to find ways and means to do justice to our potential. And to utilize the potential in such a way that it significantly enhances the quality of life of people associated with us. We also get inspired to always find ways to make our existing work processes more efficient in our organizations. 

#assemblyline #production #dealer #franchisee

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