Henry Ford: A Man of the Century
The 2006 Porsche 911 that I would love to own would not even be in existence were it not for the fortitude and ingenuity of men like Henry Ford who lead the way in the automotive industry. The Ford Motor Company and Henry Ford with his engineer's mind and spirit of inventiveness changed American history. Henry Ford was a man with an interesting private life as well being a man who pushed to make his dreams come true and did not take "no" for an answer which is what a great inventor and business man needs.
Henry Ford was responsible for the assembly line way of manufacturing. In the plant that was built in Highland Park, Michigan to produce the Model T, all of the equipment to make an assembly line possible was installed beginning in 1908 and the plant went into production in 1910. The assembly line change was what headed the Ford Motor Company to huge sales and profits over the next several years. Charles Sorensen, and Clarence Avery could possibly have been responsible for the idea of the assembly line way of manufacturing, but with Henry Ford's engineering background he was definitely involved in some way along with these top men of his. Many credit him with the idea alone so it isn't known if it was collaboration or not.
Ford didn't promote this first car by announcing that he would provide a public demonstration of the capabilities of the car like Charles B. King did who was the first man to drive a car through Detroit. Ford called the car the "quadricycle" and gave that demonstration on Memorial Day in 1896. Basically, there was not a soul that cared, no newspaper wrote an article and this strange car of his wasn't the first or the best, so back to the drawing board He...
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...can be of value to any of us if we open our minds to learn. It seems like I have just scratched the surface of the life of this brilliant man. We can't forget the advancements that have been possible because of the automobile and the jobs that have been provided in this industry and their importance to our country. This is why we should always be grateful to Henry Ford.
Sources:
Ford R. Bryan. Beyond the Model T the Other Ventures of Henry Ford. Wayne State Press, 1997
John Cote Dahlinger. The Secret Life of Henry Ford. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1978
David L. Lewis. The Public Image of Henry Ford. Detroit: Wayne State Press, 1976.
John B. Rae. American Automobile Manufacturers The First Forty Years. Philadelphia: Chilton, 1959
Reynolds M. Wik. Henry Ford and Grassroots America. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1972.
Henry Ford’s development of the single and unchanging automobile model meant the possibility to concentrate upon a single cheap car for the masses. When The Ford Company began to make Model C for $900, Model F for a thousand, and Model B for two thousand, the profits began to drop more and more each year and progress was being made backwards. The Ford factory was taken control over by Henry who stopped the production of
Henry Ford was a captain of industry. He owned Ford Motors, which was an automobile company. Ford was a man who always wanted his own way and he got it most of the time. The creation he is most famous for is the FORD MODEL T, the car for the commoners. His car became an instant hit amongst the people- the local people and the working class of people because it was very affordable and was not just for the rich. Ford was a very successful businessman but not particularly a nice guy. He expected a lot from his workers but thing is that he also cared for his workers, because he knew that not only were they dependent on him but also that he depended upon them, they were the ones due to which he was gaining popularity and success throughout America. Ford’s great strength was the manufacturing process for his cars. Instead of having people put together the entire car he created organized teams that added parts to the Model T as it moved down the assembly line, this lowered the production prices and also the time and energy required to put together the cars.
At the time that he started Ford Motors Company, most people did not drive cars, and hadn't even considered purchasing a car. Henry Ford is famously quoted saying, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said ‘faster horses’”. His extremely successful Model T, nicknamed the Tin Lizzie, fundamentally changed the automotive industry. Ford understood that most of the American population was in the working class and could not afford to buy a car, so he decided to create a standardized vehicle for the masses. The Model T was durable, reliable, and most importantly, affordable. However, marketing strategies were crucial, since previously people hadn't even thought of buying a car. When Ford first introduced the Model T, he ensured that there was a great amount of publicity surrounding it in every newspaper possible to get the word out. Publicity is just as critical today if not more, and Ford understood that from very early
After the Ford Motor Company was founded, they began assembling cars in July 1903 at a plant on Mack Avenue, Detriot. It was not until five years later, in 1908, when the famed Model T was introduced. The constant growth in demand for this vehicle was the reason that Ford developed a mass-production method in order to create what we now know as economies of scale, where in producing
"Henry Ford Museum - America's Ideas and Innovations." Henry Ford Museum - America's Ideas and Innovations. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.
Henry Ford is responsible for “perhaps the most revolutionary development in industrial history.” (Watts 2005,
Henry Ford was born on July 30 in 1863 in Greenfield Township, Michigan he was one of the first American industrialists and wanted to make a difference in the automobile industry. Back then, before 1908 automobiles were expensive that only rich people could afford. Henry Ford wanted to change this and wanted everyone to have a vehicle to drive. He was able to accomplish this by the assembly line, in which it created more cars in less time. The first car Henry Ford made was the Model T created on the assembly line. Ford’s innovation in manufacturing created less expensive cars and higher wage jobs.
A more personal study of the Ford family and the contraversy surrounding the success of the Ford Motor Company.
started up in 1903. Of course, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. George Baldwin Selden, an inventor, earned himself a patent for the automobile in 1895. This halted production of the Model A almost entirely. Ford eventually gained the support of other carmakers and eventually shut down the Selden Patent. Henry Ford faced many other challenges including greedy employees, failed model t prototypes and many more things. However, Ford also had his Triumphs in some of the things he's most famous for. First, Ford invented the assembly line. Before, one car would be assembled at a time bringing all the parts around to one place. Ford’s assembly line changed this. Now they could make and mass produce several cars at a time. Heres how it works: a bare chassis would roll down a conveyor. Along the way the engine, wheels, body, and a black paint job would be applied. Going along with the assembly line, Ford was also able to make a cheap, easy to fix,
Ford: Expansion and Challenge, Allen Nevins and Frank Ernest Hill (New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1957), 76-155
Observed as a technological mastermind, Ford commenced experiments involving machinery from the time he was adolescent to launching his career working at the Edison Illuminating Company. He examined internal combustion engines and gasoline buggy ideas, eventually resulting in removing himself from Edison’s company and his introduction into the emerging automobile industry. Following in 1903, he established the Ford Motor Company, which expeditiously became a leader in the automotive industry and would gain extensive wealth within only a few decades. While other manufacturers strove to produce automobiles to be extravagant and luxurious predominantly for the wealthy, he immensely focused on efficient mass production of durable, affordable vehicles for the expanding middle-class market. The car should be like a fine watch," Ford said.
The investors wanted a new model that was more reliable, but Ford wanted work out the problems on his first car before he created a new one. The car the investors wanted was a luxury that they can sell the rich people and Henry was not building cars the rich, but for the poor. While the investors waited for a new car he experimented for better solutions with the investor money. The investors didn 't like the fact that Henry was experimenting instead building a new car so they stopped writing the check. Henry Ford didn 't like the way his investors controlled him on the way he did things so he decided to not have rich people tell what to do at his shop. He told himself that for now on his shop will be his shop. He did not like the rich people that backed him because thought of the rich as jerks. While he was experimenting in the background during his first company he was working on a race car. The car that built twenty-eight horsepower and he beat the Alexander Winton with an engine with about three times the amount of horsepower he had. The funny thing is that he had no experience racing at all in the first Detroit
He looked through hundreds of books on bicycles and books on horse and buggies. Ford decided to use wheels from a bicycle, and the same steel framing. From the horse and buggy, he took the idea of the shape of the actual frame. He also made a handlebar that was in the same place as horse rider for a buggy. When Henry For opened his first automobile plant, not only did it bring much attention to the industry, but it also made people want to own a car so that they looked “cool”. People knew that this was going to be a successful industry so they wanted to work in it. Even though most people think that the first true car ever made by Henry Ford was the Model A; they are actually being deceived. Henry Ford’s first actual cars were made for racing. Only a year or so later did Ford start making Model A’s.
Henry Ford was one of the most important and influential inventors and businessmen in the short history of America. He revolutionized the business world and he changed forever the efficiency of factories around the world. One of the reasons that Henry Ford can be considered such an important man is that his ideas and concepts are still used today. Boron on July 30, in the year of 1863, Henry Ford was the oldest child of the family. His parents, William and Mary Ford, were “prosperous farmers” in his hometown of Dearborn. While they we’re well off for farmers, Ford certainly wasn’t spoiled and fed from silver spoons. Ford was just like any other typical young boy during the rural nineteenth century. From early on there we’re signs that Henry was going to be something more than a farmer. He looked with interest upon the machinery that his father and himself used for their farming, and looked with disdain at the rigorous chores of a farmer. In the year 1879, Henry being a meager 16 years old, he moved to the city of Detroit where he would work as an apprentice machinist. Henry would remain in Detroit working and learning about all varieties of machines. Although he occasionally came back to visit Dearborn, he mostly stayed in Detroit, picking up more and more valuable knowledge. This apprenticeship allowed him to work in the factories of Detroit and learn what a hard working blue-collar job was like. When he did return to Dearborn he was always tearing apart and rebuilding his fathers machines, along with the dreaded farm chores. Henry Ford was a hard worker and that was proven by him getting fired from one of his jobs in Detroit because the older employees we’re mad at him because he was finishing his repairs in a half hour rather than the usual five hours. Clara Bryant would represent the next step in now twenty-five year old Henry Ford’s life. The two lovers we’re married in 1888 and would endure good times as well as bad. In order to support his new wife Henry was forced to work the land as he ran a sawmill that was given to him by his father. His father actually attempted to bribe Henry to stay in the farming business as he gave him the land only under the condition that he would continue on as a farmer.
When he was 28 Ford took a job with Thomas Edison's Detroit Illuminating Company, where he became chief engineer. In his spare time he began to build his first car, the Quadricycle. It resembled two bicycles positioned side by side with bicycle-like wheels, a bicycle seat, and a barely visible engine frame. Some said it bore a resemblance to a baby carriage with a two-cylinder engine. In June 1896, Ford took an historic ride in his first automobile that was observed by many curious Detroit on-lookers. The Quadricycle broke down in a humiliating scene.