Henry Ford: A Great Innovator

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Ford introduced the mass-production system in 1908 for the production of Model T. Through his continuous innovations, he also revolutionized this idea, which he had introduced so successfully. The novelty in this system was that the parts were standardized and fixing them on became much easier. To enable the parts to be used interchangeably, Ford standardized the gauging system19 throughout the production process. He began working on pre-hardened20 metal that minimized distortion problems like twisting of the metal sheet during the imprinting of a die.21 Soon, Ford was able to develop unique designs that limited the number of parts required and made them easy to fix. For instance, Ford Co’s four-cylinder engine block comprised of a single, complete casting; in contrast, Ford's competitors had to mold each cylinder separately and then bolt them together. When perfect part interchangeability was accomplished, Ford made the assembler perform only the single task of moving from one vehicle to the other around the assembly hall. Ford was always determined to find a solution to any problem. He used to say, "Everything can always be done better than it is being done."22 The idea of a 'moving assembly line' struck Ford when he was on a tour of Chicago. Describing the brainwave, Ford said, "The idea came in a general way from the overhead trolley (a device from which the meat was hung) that the Chicago packers use in dressing beef."

At the warehouse, butchers made a few cuts as each piece of meat moved along, till no usable meat was left. Ford completely reversed the process, building up a completed automobile on a moving assembly line. The use of a moving assembly line process in the automobile industry was complex because the parts manufactured on sub-assembly lines, had to be entered smoothly into the process. Timing was of utmost importance since any obstruction along the assembly line would stop the work. There were other problems associated with the assembly stand system as well. One was that workers had to move from one assembly stand to another, wasting a lot of their energy and time. Ford calculated that ten steps saved by each of his workers, would enable the company to save 50 miles of wasted energy every day. In addition to this, there was a regular human jam as faster workers tried to overtake the slower ones. In October 1913, Ford introduced the 'moving assembly line' concept in the Highland Park factory, bringing the car assembly line to the stationary worker. This innovation reduced the cycle time of the task from 2.3 minutes to 1.19 minutes. The assembly time for Model T chassis fell drastically from 12 hours 30 minutes to 5 hours 50 minutes. The assembly line included two strips of metal plates - under the wheels of each side of the car - that extended through the length of the factory. Ford was able to reduce inventory to a great extent, resulting in significant savings for the company. The number of workmen required for assembling an automobile also fell. In January 1914, Ford designed an 'endless chain-driven' conveyor to move the chassis more quickly from one workstation to another. In April 1914, a 'man-high' line - with all the parts and belts at waist level - was introduced. This made the job of assembling much easier. In 1914, 13,000 Ford employees manufactured 260,720 cars, as against the industry as a whole, which employed 66,350 workers to produce 286,770 cars. By 1915, most of the manufacturing activities were conducted in-house. Ford moved towards vertical integration because he had mastered mass-production techniques long before the company's vendors had. Vertical integration enabled Ford to cut costs considerably. By using the assembly line approach, the production of vehicles at Ford doubled every year during the years - 1913 to 1923.

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19] A measuring system in which the unit of measurement was made common for all parts and components.
20] Pre-hardening meant hardening a metal without loss of shape by heating and then cooling it immediately.
21] A device used for cutting out, forming, or stamping material, especially an engraved metal piece used for impressing a design onto a softer metal.
22] As quoted in the article, "Henry Ford and the Model T," posted on www.wiley.com.

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