Henry Ford: The Model T

One of the most revolutionary persons of the Industrial Age is without a doubt a wealthy pioneer named Henry James Ford. Ford was a prominent visionary who had a unique fascination for cars. From a young age Ford only dreamt to make cars affordable for everyone thus he introduced the orginal Ford - The Model T. Before Ford’s Car was readily known to society cars were only a luxury of the very fortunate wealthy class.

Base Model T

So how did ford reduce the cost of his vehicles? Wouldn’t he end up upside-down in revenue if he was manufacturing cars and selling them for less then what they cost to make? This was apparent and Ford recognized this as he redeveloped an idea by a gentlemen named Ransom E. Olds called the “assembly line.” In 1901 Olds came up with a way to make manufacturing quick and efficient by having individual groups of people assemble individual parts to a machine. Ford took this idea and added a belt driven assembly circuit and teams of workers who had special duties during their specific shifts. By adding the belt manufacturing his cars cut down time and cost. He was then able to sell his cars at a lower price due to the higher supply he had on hand. It was a great idea and the quality of the build never suffered because his workers were refreshed every 6-7hrs. at his factory in Detroit. In my opinion, I admire anyone like Ford who can see beyond the ordinary and look forward past the “box.” Ford’s marvelous strategies were so grand that they are still what we use today in industrial manufacturing and farming produce. Ford’s Model T had many versions similar to what we see today in the automobile industry.

Study By Jay Giles