Henry Ford is one of the greatest industrialists in the United States of America being the founder of the Ford Motor Company. Though he did not invent the motor vehicle, Henry Ford has a reputation for making landmark innovations in the motor industry. Henry Ford has the credit for building the first motor vehicle affordable to the ordinary American. By lowering the cost of the motor vehicles, he created a large consumer base that marked the genesis of mass production and consumption of motor vehicles. He also has the credit for developing revolutionary labor policies that shaped the American and the world’s economy. Henry Ford continues to influence the society today through the achievements he made during his life.
Henry Ford was born in Dearborn Michigan in the year 1863 on his father’s farm (Bob Casey, 3). Just like any other ordinary children in the farm, Ford was involved in the farm activities at young age. This was to prepare him to be a farmer at an older age. However, Ford’s behavior was not conventional compared to the other children of his age. He had a profound interest in taking things apart and examining them. At young age, Ford had a reputation of disintegrating the toys belonging to other children part by part (Bob Casey, 3). He also displayed industrious traits at a young age. Henry Ford brought together boys from the surrounding farms and worked with them to build miniature farm equipment like steam engines and waterwheels.
Courtesy of his unquenchable curiosity, Henry Ford was able to learn about steam engines used in the farm through the interaction with the workers who used to operate these engines. In addition to this, Henry Ford learnt how to make and repair watches by taking them apart piece by piece and then fixing them back in place (Bob Casey, 3). Henry Ford based most of his learning on trial and error method. This way, he was able to know what worked and what did not work. This was the foundation of prowess in machine dynamics and design possessed by Henry Ford.
Henry Ford, being a talented learner, was able to rise up the ranks and within three years, he was the chief engineer. However, during his time at the electrical engineering company, Ford was also involved in a side project. This project was the quest to build a carriage that did not depend on horses. During this time, many other people were engrossed in the same quest and Ford was able to gather more information in the construction of the horseless carriages by reading literature on the progress of other machine engineers and designers trying to build them (Bob Casey, 3).
With the help of a few friends and ideas that he had gathered from the magazines, Henry Ford successfully built his first working model of an automobile in 1896. Two years later, he constructed an improved model of the automobile. He then convinced a group of local investors to back him up financially to start his first company involved in the assembly of horseless carriages (Bob Casey, 3). This business model did not work but Ford, being a person who learnt from trial and error, started a new venture.
The new venture was even more ambitious. Henry Ford assembled and drove two racing cars. The racing cars attracted more attention and helped him to win more investors (Bob Casey, 3). In 1903, Ford launched his third venture, the Ford Motor Company, with the financial backing of local investors. Most models assembled by the Ford Motor Company had their steering wheel placed on the left side (Bob Casey, 8). A majority of other automobile manufactures replicated this design. The success of the Ford Motor Company was rooted in the cheap cost of the models of cars it produced. During this time, most of its models had a fair price tag unlike those of its competitors that were highly priced.
Ford’s dream was to ensure that most American households could afford to buy an automobile. This approach to production was an unconventional one. In the normal market dynamics, demand for a commodity drives its production. However, Ford sought to encourage the demand of motor vehicles by producing affordable models. Most of the Americans did not need the car as an essential item. The society was already used to the existing models of transportation and they had modelled their transportation needs around the available modes of transport. For long distance travelling, an extensive rail network served the Americans (Bob Casey, 4). In addition to this, when convenient, the Americans could use steam-powered vessels on the waterways. This left cars as an expensive non-essential piece that only fit for luxury.
Ford achieved the low cost motor vehicles through the introduction of the mass production conveyer line. This way, he was able to produce many identical cars of the same model making the repairs standardised while at the same time reducing the cost of production. By lowering the cost of production, Ford was able to sell his car models at a lower price. The greatest success of the Ford Motor Company was the model T. In the year 1920, half of the cars in the world’s roads were model T’s (Bob Casey, 9). This was a monumental success.
Ford’s Relevance Today
Mass Production and Fordism
One of the landmark achievements of Henry Ford that have a long lasting relevance to the society today is his contribution to the motor industry. One cannot talk of the motor industry without paying reference to the contribution of Henry Ford. The most notable achievement in the motor industry was the invention of the mass production. Mass production was the main strength of the Ford’s Motor Company since it facilitated the financial viability of the company’s low cost cars.
In its infancy, the motor industry used the craft production system in the production line of the motor vehicles (Degen, 6). Small-scale production and small-scale sales characterised this production model. Skilled artisans who understood the details of the designs they were working with did the assembly of the motor vehicles. These artisans assembled the motor vehicles piece by piece hence; this model could only produce a small volume of cars. On the other side, the sales were directly to the customers who came with their specifications. The manufacturer had to source the materials from independent contractors to fit the customer’s specifications. This limited the output of these production lines (Degen, 7).
In addition to this, this model of the production line made the cars to be expensive and as a result, mass consumption of the automobiles was not realised since the advent of the assembly of the first automobiles by Benz and Gottlieb Daimler in 1885 that separately produced the first petrol-engine driven four-wheel carriage, the Velozipede (Degen, 6). The Ford Motor Company boasts credit for its invention of the mass production model of product assembly through its conveyor belt based assembly line that premiered in 1913. This assembly line greatly increased production speed and reduced the automobile production cost quite significantly.
The mass production model involved the vertical integration of the components of the automobiles. The use of interchangeable components facilitated this vertical integration. To produce these parts, the Ford Motor Company designed dedicated machined to carry out the production of these parts. The machines were fitted with a standard gauging system that ensured that all parts were identical and interchangeable (Degen, 7). In this new model of production, rather than one artisan worker being involved in the assembly of the entire motor vehicle, the vehicle as assembled by several workers in the assembly line. Each worker placed one or two parts in the car and passed it to the next artisan who fixed another part. At the end of the production line, there was a continuous output of the finished product (Degen, 7).
In addition to being time and cost efficient, the mass production model of product assembly facilitated mass sales of the vehicles. The increased output of the production line made the mass sale possible. Following the success of the mass production in the motor industry, other industrial producers also followed suit. These included the consumer goods producers and food products producers. The production of electronics, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners and washing machines among others integrated mass production in their assembly lines (Bob Casey, 10)
In a remarkable use of the mass production model, during the Second World War, the United States of America was able to win the war based on her ability to produce weapons in large scale using the mass production model (Bob Casey, 10). The production of aircrafts, guns, ammunition, explosives and combat gear employed the mass production model. The American armed forces could replenish their weapons swiftly and this facilitated their conquest despite major losses of the ships and aircrafts. To date, the mass production method is widely used by major companies in the world economy including Boeing, Toyota, Samsung, Apple and major gun manufacturers among others.
Relevance to the labor philosophy and growth of the American middle class
One of the greatest weaknesses of the mass production model of production was the high turnover rate of the workers at the Ford Motor Company. The turnover at Ford Company was approaching 400% and this created the need for a long lasting solution. The high turnover was increasing the worker training costs for the company and this increased the production costs. The solution to this problem lied in the welfare capitalism philosophy pioneered by Henry Ford. Ford introduces a new wage policy that saw workers being paid $5 per day. This was double the current wage rates at that time. As a result, he was able to retain only the best workers and tremendously reduce the turnover rate. The tides turned from begging people to work for him to choosing the best out of the overwhelming job applications. This changed the American labor policies.
Today, companies like Google offer handsome remuneration packages to their workers. In return, Google gets the best brains to work for it and this has contributed to its rise as a giant tech company in the world. This fair sharing of the company’s wealth is the template for modern day management practices (Ford News, 1). In addition to reducing the turnover and increasing productivity, the $5 a day policy contributed to the growth of the middle class in the American economy (Degen, 13). Other companies were compelled to offer packages that were more attractive to their employees in order to get the best workers for the job. The increased wage rates increased the purchasing power of the citizens and this led to the rise of the middle class (Degen, 13). Today, developing economies employ welfare capitalism to propel themselves into middle-income status. The achievement of this is through the introduction of labor policies that encourage high wage rates.
Other than introducing the $5 a day wage policy, Henry Ford also pioneered in the provision of a favorable working environment for the workers as a way of improving the labor in the company. He started an assortment of educational facilities throughout the branches of his company. One of the major social amenities was the English Language School that built at the Highland Park automobile assembly plant in 1914 (The Henry Ford, 4). The realization that most of the immigrant workers did not have language skills prompted the establishment of this school. Today, this welfare model continues to benefit workers and the society across all branches of the Ford Motor Company around the world. In addition, the Henry Ford foundation together with other stakeholders including Bill Gates, Dean Kamen and Steve Wozniak are actively involved in the facilitation of innovation and educational scholarships all around the world (The Henry Ford, 1).
Conclusion
Henry Ford is one of the greatest American industrialists that ever lived. His contributions to the motor industry have a far-reaching significance to the industry. The introduction of mass production not only had effect to the motor industry but also the other industries in the economy as well. The victory of the United States in America in the Second World War was courtesy of the ability to mass-produce the weapons, a concept innovated by Ford. Henry Ford still maintains relevance in the society today. Many labor policies employed by major companies in the world have their basis in the welfare capitalism theory developed by Henry Ford. Through his foundation, Henry Ford continues to be relevant to the society through the involvement in scholarship provision and funding innovations. Therefore, the legacy of Henry Ford is relevant to the society now and forever.
Works Cited
Bob Casey, John, Horace Dodge. Henry Ford and Innovation. thehenryFord.org, 2010.
Degen, Ronald Jean. Fordism and Taylorism are responsible for the early success and recent decline of the U.S. motor vehicle industry. globADVANTAGE Center of Research in International Business & Strategy, 2011.
Ford News. Innovations and Contributions of Henry Ford Celebrated During 150th Anniversary of His Birth. Ford News, 2013.
Goldy. The Real Lesson to Learn from Ford’s Famous $5 Day. 4 April 2014. 19 October 2014 <http://horsesass.org/the-real-lesson-to-learn-from-Fords-famous-5-day/>.
The Henry Ford. "Making an impact through giving." The Henry Ford Effect (2011): 1-4.
