Henry Ford

Henry Ford did not invent the car. Nor was he the one who invented the production line. But he was the first to develop a moving production line that was so large that it was possible to mass-produce cars and make them an everyday means of transportation for most people.

Early life

Ford came from relatively simple circumstances. He was born on a farm in Michigan in 1863, but as a child he was not particularly interested in farming. Instead, he spent his time taking apart his toys to study how they worked.

In 1879, while still a teenager, Ford left home to begin an internship as a machinist in Detroit. In 1891, he was employed as an engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company.

Forrige avsnitt

1 / 2

Neste avsnitt

The first car

Soon Ford was able to spend more time and money developing his own horseless carriage. In 1896, he completed his first self-propelled vehicle, which he called the quadricycle. The car was petrol-powered, with a simple frame and four tires that looked like bicycle tires. Instead of a steering wheel, it had a joystick. The car’s top speed was 32 kilometers per hour, which was quite impressive at the time.

The vehicle became so popular that several investors became interested. In 1899, Ford was able to start his own company and start producing cars. But neither this company nor Ford’s other company were great successes.

Forrige avsnitt

1 / 2

Neste avsnitt

The 999 race car

But, Ford was determined not to give up and instead put all of his energy into developing an 80-horsepower racing car. He called the car “999”. In October 1902, Barney Oldfield drove the car to victory in the Manufacturer’s Challenge Cup.

Ford Motor Company

Interest in Ford soon picked up again, and in 1903 the Ford Motor Company started. Ford set himself the goal of producing simple cars at a low price, made for the general public. In 1908, he launched the Ford Model T, a simple car at an affordable price that was easy to drive and maintain and manage to drive on bumpy roads.

Incredibly popular

The car became so popular that it sold faster than it could be produced. The company had to find a new way of working to meet the high demand.

The production line

The solution was a moving production line. Instead of each employee building an entire car, each man was given the responsibility of putting together one or two specific parts. The unit was then passed on to the next person, and so the process continued until the car was finished.

In this way, production became extremely efficient, and in 1914 the production time for a Ford Model T went down from 12 hours to just 26 minutes and 30 seconds. The consequence was that the price of the car also fell from 850 dollars to only 260 dollars.

Ford also started producing cars on the other side of the Atlantic. In the early 1920s, half of the world’s car fleet consisted of Ford Model T cars.

Forrige avsnitt

1 / 3

Neste avsnitt
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company

Boring job

The work along the production line was very boring. Many people could not stand to work there for long, so the change in people who worked there was high. Ford had to hire 53,000 people each year to have 14,000 men working at all times. This was necessary to keep production going.

In 1914, Ford more than doubled workers’ wages to solve this problem. He paid the employees $5 a day, a record wage for an uneducated worker. Now that the staff themselves could afford the cars they produced, the job became much more attractive, and Ford was able to secure its position as the world’s leading car producer.

Ford lives on

Sales of the Ford Model T fell as new, faster and more comfortable cars became available. In 1932, at the age of 69, Ford presented his last great invention: the cheap, lightweight V8 engine. But even this achievement was not enough to win back leadership in the American market.

In 2019, Ford Motor Company was the fourth largest car producer in the world, and the largest in the United States. Here is an example of one of Ford’s newer models, the Focus ST.

Sources:

  • Ny vitenskap: Historie (2018)
    Orage Forlag AS

Media Rights:

    1. Getty Images
    2. Getty Images
    3. Getty Images
    4. Ukjent
    5. Getty Images
    6. Getty Images
    7. Ukjent
    8. Getty Images
    9. Getty Images
    10. Ford Motor Norge AS