Mass Production
Abstract:
This paper is about mass production and its evolution. What made mass production a huge success during those days? The failures of mass production lead to the birth of advanced manufacturing technology.
Mass production is defined as: The organizational technology that uses conveyor belts and a standardized, progressive assembly process to manufacture goods1. Mass production is a process of producing goods in large quantities at low price but low price doesn’t mean low quality. The main goal is to produce large number of products and low level skill employees (division of labor) with less cost.
The evolution of mass production:
Earlier most of the cars were manufactured by crafts work- The technology that involves
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Ford came up with three principles on this progressive manufacture: 1- Work has to be delivered to the worker, the worker should not have to find the work, 2- Work should be processed in a sequential manner so each task builds on the previous task and 3- Task should be broken down into its simplest form. By inculcating these processes Ford made conversion process much more controllable and predictable than it was before, reduced the level of skills and competence required for the production. Any new employee joined would require 2 days to learn the skill and start working. By 1914 Ford employed 15,000 workers and 255 supervisors. As a result of this technological innovations Ford was making two million cars every year in 1920’s. But there was a different situation inside the factories, that the employees hated their job, because they were watched constantly by the supervisors. They were not allowed to talk inside the production line and they were not allowed to drink even after their work, every time they were fired by the supervisors. This made Ford to employee 500 people every day to maintain the workforce at 15000. Mass production helps organizations to reduce cost by using …show more content…
In mass production there is a high technical complexity, routine manufacturing processes and task interdependencies all of these constitute for an organization to make inflexible. The combination of dedicated machine, fixed workers and large stock of inventory makes it very expensive and to adapt to the change in environment and customer demands. To make an organization more flexible enough then Advanced Manufacturing Technology was born. Advanced manufacturing technology is the innovations in materials technology and knowledge which will change the work process of traditional mass production
By 1927, Ford was a very successful industrialist, who had made a fortune out of manufacturing cars and displayed a new model of industrial production. He paid his workers much higher than average wages and offered various other incentives to encourage them to live the lives he thought they should. However, he was not a totally honest employer. He was violently anti-union and employed thugs to intimidate anyone who tried to organize and represent his workforce. Ford's generosity as a boss was dependent on letting the company make decisions for the workers, not just in the factories but in the way employees lived their lives, spies were actively out and about observing workers' off duty lives. Ford thought he could create a vast rubber plantation in Brazil, thus ensuring a reliable supply of latex for his new Model A as well as for his Ford trucks and tractors. In the process, he intended to show the world that his system of production would also elevate the lives of his workers.
In the 1920’s the United States economy was booming, and a famous man by the man of Henry Ford came along and had an industry changing idea. He set up the first production line style for producing automobiles. Each assembly line worker had one or two specific tasks to complete on the cars that came through. The process began with a skeleton on the car, and as it went down the line from worker to worker it slowly gained more and more pieces finishing the automobile completely...
A factory system has four main characteristics; mechanized equipment, workers under one roof, division of labor, and supervision of employees.3 The technological advances of cotton jennies, water frames, and steam power quickly grew too large to fit into households leading to factories replacing the once domestic system.3 Once factories were in place, people in rural areas who were unable to find work took jobs in the factories. The Industrial Revolution in Britain was successful because of the investment of machinery, use of supervision, and improvement of quality control. 4The factory system allowed for materials and goods to be made faster and at a reduced cost. Pre-Industrial Revolution, work hours were erratic and long periods of inactivity were the norm. In the agriculture business, laborers worked in conjunction with the harvest schedule. With factories, a steady production schedule was mandatory to keep...
Henry Ford1863-1947Henry Ford's parents left Ireland during the potato famine and settled in the Detroit area in the 1840s. Ford was born in what is now Dearborn, Michigan. His formal education was limited, but even as a youngster, he was handy with machinery. He worked for the Detroit Edison company, advancing from machine-shop apprentice to chief engineer. In 1893, Ford built a gasoline engine, and within a few years, an automobile, still a novelty item of the rich or do-it-yourself engineers. In 1899 Ford left Edison to help run the Detroit Automobile Company. Cars were still built essentially one at a time. Ford hoped to incorporate ideas from other industries -- standardized parts as Eli Whitney had used with gun manufacturing, or assembly line methods George Eastman tried in photo processing -- to make the process more efficient. This idea struck others in his field as nutty, so before long, Ford quite Detroit Automobile Company and began to build his own racing cars. They were good enough to attract backers and even partners, and in 1903, he set up the Ford Motor Company.He still met resistance to his ideas for mass production of a car the average worker could afford. But he stuck to his goal and finally in 1908, began production of the Model T. Ford gradually adapted the production line until in 1913, his plant incorporated the first moving assembly line. Demand for the affordable car soared even as production went up: before Ford stopped making the model T in 1927, 15 million had been sold, and Ford had become the leading auto manufacturer in the country. In addition to the moving assembly line, Ford revolutionized the auto industry by increasing the pay and decreasing the hours of his employees, ensuring he could get enough and the best workers. During the Model T era, Ford bought out his shareholders so he had complete financial control of the now vast corporation. He continued to innovate, but competitors (growing more powerful though fewer in number) began to cut into Ford's market share.Ford became interested in politics and as a successful and powerful business leader, was sometimes a participant in political affairs. In 1915, he funded a trip to Europe, where World War I was raging. He and about 170 others went -- without government support or approval -- to seek peace.
According to BusinessDictionary.com, “Production is the processes and methods used to transform tangible inputs (raw materials, semi-finished goods, subassemblies) and intangible inputs (ideas, information, knowledge into goods or services. Resources are used in this process to create an output that is suitable for use or has exchange value”. While “Consumption is the process in which the substance of a thing is completely destroyed, used up, or incorporated or transformed into something else. Consumption of goods and services is the amount of them used in a particular time period”.
Throughout the 1920s the assembly line, design by Henry Ford, helps move forward the automobile into a new age of affordability and necessity. He makes the car more than just symbol of wealth but a symbol of the every man. The model T, Henry Ford’s pride and joy is the first car ever to be built using the assembly line. This new manufacturing process of mass production uses a conveyer belt to move parts and product down a line to be assembled by workers and machines(Lerner 343).This new process made it easier, faster, and cheaper for the average working class person to afford a car for the first time. The assembly line was not only made for cars it could be integrated into other industries that require a similar quality product being created continuously and quickly. During World War two, American factor...
He received investments from all over to help form the Henry Ford Company in 1899. Ford’s father was proud to see his son’s name on automobiles, but was frustrated when Ford needed to constantly improve the efficiency. Ford left his namesake company in 1902 for financial reasons. After he left, it changed names to the Cadillac Motor Car Company. Later that year, Ford founded the Ford Motor Company. A month after the company was formed, the Ford Model A was built at the Ford Motor Plant in Detroit. Only a couple of these cars were able to be made every day, so sales were slow. There were only about 2 to 3 workers to assemble these cars. But Ford was motivated to create an efficient and consumer friendly automobile. These innovations resulted in the Ford Model T. The Model T was a great liftoff for Ford and his company, and as a result, he practiced techniques of mass production the would change American Industry, including using large production plants. The mass production technique made it easier for people to assemble cars and the rate of producing these cars were much quicker. It was also a cheaper way to produce automobiles, and in 1914, Ford was able to raise the daily wage to 5 dollars. Production skyrocketed for the Model T and by 1918, half of America had purchased these inexpensive and readily available cars. In 1919, Ford made his son Edsel as the president of the company, but Ford still kept control of the company’s day to day operations. That same year, Ford stopped making the Model T and invented the New and improved Model A , which had better horsepower and brakes, and better overall improvements. By this time, Ford had sold 15 million Model T’s and had opened plants that manufactured the Model
Henry Ford revolutionized the automobile industry with the assembly line invention; this new factory idea came from him observing the continuous-process production. “The most significant piece of Ford's efficiency crusade was the assembly line. Inspired by the continuous-flow production methods used by flour mills, brewer...
English Online. (Ed.). (n.d.). The Industrial Revolution. Retrieved April 23, 2012, from English-online.com Web site: http://www.english-online.at/history/industrial-revolution/industrial-revolution-manufacturing.htm
Ford’s production plants rely on very high-tech computers and automated assembly. It takes a significant financial investment and time to reconfigure a production plant after a vehicle model is setup for assembly. Ford has made this mistake in the past and surprisingly hasn’t learned the valuable lesson as evidence from the hybrid revolution their missing out on today. Between 1927 and 1928, Ford set in motion their “1928 Plan” of establishing worldwide operations. Unfortunately, the strategic plan didn’t account for economic factors in Europe driving the demand for smaller vehicles. Henry Ford established plants in Europe for the larger North American model A. Their market share in 1929 was 5.7% in England and 7.2% in France (Dassbach, 1988). Economic changes can wreak havoc on a corporation’s bottom line and profitability as well as their brand.
Primary production of homogenous goods and several processes are undertaken for the finished product to be realized is what is called process costing. All stages of processing and costs accrued during manufacturing of a product will be added to the final batch of products. Keenness is
...motive Manufacturing & Production. Retrieved 10 March, 2011, from Find Articles. com http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi m0FWH/is n10 v110/ai n27542063/
The factors of production are the inputs in any production process. The completed goods are what result from the process, also often called raw and finished goods. The more factors of production are given as input the higher the number of completed goods will be, and of course the opposite is just as true. The typical factors of production are Land, Labor and capital goods. more recently Entrepeneurship has also been added as one of these factors. Understanding these is essential to understanding the two production functions which this WIKI article focuses on. (2)
Ford used Taylor’s scientific management principles and come up with the mass production and assembly line. This benefitted the motor vehicle industry highly. The effects of Taylorism and Fordism in the industrial workplace were strong and between the period of 1919-1929 the output of industries in the U.S doubled as the number of workers decreased. There was an increase in unskilled labour as the skill was removed and placed into machines. It lead to the discouragement of workers ability to bargain on the basis of control over the workplace.
Manufacturing is the process of convert raw materials and components to finished goods to satisfy customers’ needs or what they expect.