History

How did Henry Fords’ innovative technique ideas influence the mass production and automative industry in the U.S?

By Macarena Riestra













Amy Essington
History 173
April 6th, 2012

The engineer and entrepreneur Henry Ford radically changed the customs and habits of society, thanks to his innovative approach to industrial production. He was able to produce cheap andreliable cars, within reach of many consumers, as well as transforming the working methods of the industry to make it more productive. His invention of the assembly line improved the work methods and lowered the cost of manufacturing a product, thereby creating affordable and accessible products for all consumers, including his workers. Henry Ford was able to combine innovative productiontechniques that have not only revolutionized the automotive industry but American society as a whole.
Henry Ford was born July 30, 1863, on a farm in Greenfield Township, Michigan. He was born in a family of Irish origin. His mother, Mary Litogot Ford lost her parents as a child, so she was adopted by her neighbors. His father, William Ford was born in County Cook, Ireland. Henry was the youngest and hadfour other sibling; Margaret, Jane, William, and Robert Ford. As a child he combined his studies at a small local school with the paternal farm work. His first contact with the world of mechanics was in 1879 and took place in the city of Detroit, where he went in search of work in a workshop as an apprentice machinist[1]. He worked nine hours a day at a salary of $2.50 a week for nine months, butstill could not afford his rent so found a job in the evenings repairing watches.At that time, watches were really expensive, which gave him an idea that if the works could be stamped out by machinery they cold be produced very cheaply.This idea was later back in his head and applied it to the manufacture of automobiles[2] In 1888, Ford married Clara Ala Bryant whom he had a child with five yearslater named Edsel Ford(1893-1943). In 1882, Ford returned to Dearborn to work on the family farm, where he became an expert at operating the steam engine. He also studied bookkeeping at Goldsmith, Bryant& Stratton Business College in Detroit. In 1891, Ford became the head of electrical maintenance at the plant of the Edison Illuminating Company and was promoted to Chief Engineer in 1893[3].Although Ford was demanded to be available twenty-four hours a day, he managed to spend time with his investigations. One of his biggest experiments was the Ford Quadricycle, which was a four-wheeled vehicle driven by a two-cylinder engine, cooled with water and without reversing. He also devoted his efforts to build several race cars that won several speed records[4]. On August 5, 1899, Ford foundedthe Detroit Automobile Company but was not successful because the automobiles produced were of a lower quality and higher price than Ford wanted, so it got dissolved in January 1901. After working in various factories in the industry, Ford founded the Ford Motor Company on June 16, 1903, with an initial investment of 28,000 dollars raised primarily among small investors, of which owned 25.5% of theshares. In an exhibition, Ford demonstrated a newly designed car on the Ice of Lake St. Clair, driving 1 mile in 39.4 seconds and setting a new land speed record at 91.3 miles per hour.Entrepreneurship was to revolutionize the world of transport and the industrial production in many ways.
For Ford, the beginning was not easy since he had to face different legal difficulties and several lawsuits.On many occasions, his own investors wanted to sue him for taking an excessive share of the profits to expand the company and improve its products and facilities. Ford had an obsession,” to build a motor vehicle for the masses” and devoted all means available to this motto and his concern for technological innovation. Between 1903 and 1908, Henry Ford and his engineers developed 19 different...