Henry_Ford

“Describe the life of industrialist Henry Ford and access his significance in the car manufacturing industry”. In the early 20th century, Henry Ford was a successful engineer who became significant in the car manufacturing industry. This is due to the assembly line technique which produced the first affordable car, the way he treated his employees, his belief in the importance of educating children and his role as the founder of a successful multi – million dollar company. Henry Ford was born on July 30th, 1863 in a farm located in Dearborn Michigan. He was the eldest of his 6 siblings and his parents were Irish immigrants. His family were in fortunate circumstances financially and he helped his father regularly on the farm. His education included working as an apprentice in a mechanic shop at the age of 16, working as a mechanic in the Edison Company and being a supervisor for the Detroit Automobile Company. When Ford opened his new company in 1903, car manufacturing was improving and increasing around the world. Karl Benz, who is known as the inventor of the modern automobile had created the first internal combustion flat engine while Rudolf Diesel had made the first ever Diesel engine. Competition was also fierce for Ford as big companies began to emerge such as Maybach Motorenbau GmbH and Daimler Motor Company. On October 1st, 1908, at the Piquette Plant in Detroit Michigan, Ford had revealed his new innovation which was the Model T car (nicknamed Tin Lizzie). This car was significant because most car companies at that time were making cars for the wealthy, but Ford saw things differently and wanted everybody to own a car, no matter if being rich or poor. He said “I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for families, but small enough for the individual to run and care for it. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be able to own one”. This quote is significant because it reveals his intentions of building a car that was affordable to all people. The Model T is the second largest selling car in the world. For almost 20 years, it was owned by half of the U.S, with 15 million being sold throughout South Africa, Canada and Australia. Ford had an ongoing obsession with cost reduction. The Model T overtime, did become affordable to all people, but its original price was $825, which was too high for many customers. Ford noticed the high price for his new invention, so he tried lowering the price of cars by using the assembly line technique, in which conveyer belts brought automobile parts to workers. Although Henry Ford wasn’t the first to use the assembly line method, he was the first to use it to lower the cost of manufacturing. The price of the Model T reduced from $825 to $300 compared to other cars at this time which costed over $2000. Furthermore, by using the assembly line technique, statistics show that it would increase the speed of making a single car from 12 hours and 8 minutes to 1 hour and 33 minutes. One of Fords most famous quotes was “Any colour- so long as its black”. This quote was significant from Ford because the colour black was both cheap and durable and by only using one colour, it would speed up the assembly line because it had a quick drying time. Another significant aspect to Henry Ford’s career was the way he treated his employees. Most wealthy capitalists at that time showed no admiration for their employees and instead made them work in poor living conditions with a low wage. However Ford saw things differently and with his company booming, he thrived to help his employees which is evident in the quote, “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself”. Therefore he helped his workers by paying them $5 a day if they were over 22, which is more than double of what they would have received elsewhere. In addition, Ford dropped the working hours of his employees from 9 to 8 hours a day and introduced a profit sharing plan, in which part of the company’s profit was set aside for the workers. By Ford showing appreciation to his employees, it made him significant because he proved to other employers that by treating your workers with care, you can run a successful business and still receive huge profits. Fords belief in the importance of educating children was significant as he was motivated to helping children by building schools. In 1916, he opened a trade school in his name, which helped people who wanted to be successful in the car industry and also opened a school called the Edison Institute in memory of Thomas Edison. He also wrote 4 books with author Samuel Crowther entitled, My Life and Work (1922), Today and Tomorrow (1926), Edison As I Knew Him (1930) and Moving Forward (1931).These books also helped with the education of people as they explain how to work and own a successful business. Finally, because Ford was the founder and builder of a multi – million dollar Car Company, he became a significant figure in the car manufacturing industry. When he opened the Ford Motor Company in 1903, he had $28,000. In 1947, at the time of his death, he had an estimated fortune of 28 million dollars. The Ford Motor Company is still operating and successful in the 21st Century. Its headquarters are in Dearborn Michigan and it now sells cars to over 6 continents, and has over 159,000 employees, with 70 plants around the world. By Ford establishing a world – wide company, he became a significant figure in the car manufacturing industry because his company is seen as trustworthy from the millions of consumers who have purchased Ford cars. In conclusion, by Henry Ford creating the first affordable car, using the assembly line method effectively, treating his employees with care, and opening a world – wide company, he became a significant figure in the car manufacturing industry and the business industry. He also was one of the first businessmen to treat his employees with respect and open education centres to further the knowledge of people.