Ford, Henry

I

Introduction

Ford, Henry (1863-1947), American industrialist, best known for his pioneering achievements in the motor vehicle industry.

Ford was born on a farm near Dearborn, Michigan, on July 30, 1863, and educated in district schools. He became a machinist's apprentice in Detroit at the age of 16. From 1888 to 1899 he was a mechanical engineer, and later chief engineer, with the Edison Illuminating Company. In 1893, after experimenting for several years in his leisure hours, he completed the construction of his first car, and in 1903 he founded the Ford Motor Company.

II

Car Production

In 1913 Ford began using standardized interchangeable parts and assembly-line techniques in his plant. Although Ford neither originated nor was the first to employ such practices, integral to the factory system, he was chiefly responsible for their general adoption and for the consequent great expansion of American industry.

By early 1914 this innovation, although greatly increasing productivity, had resulted in a monthly labour turnover of 40 to 60 per cent in his factory, largely because of the unpleasant monotony of assembly-line work and repeated increases in the production quotas assigned to workers. Ford met this difficulty by doubling the daily wage then standard in the industry, raising it from about $2.50 to $5. The net result was increased stability in his labour force and a substantial reduction in operating costs. These factors, coupled with the enormous increase in output made possible by new technological methods, led to an increase in company profits from $30 million in 1914 to $60 million in 1916.

In 1908 the Ford company initiated production of the celebrated Model T. Until 1927, when the Model T was discontinued in favour of a more up-to-date model, the company produced and sold about 15 million cars. Within the ensuing few years, however, Ford's pre-eminence as the largest producer and seller of motor cars in the nation was gradually lost to his competitors, largely because he was slow to adopt the practice of introducing a new model of car each year, which had become standard in the industry. During the 1930s Ford adopted the policy of the yearly changeover, but his company was unable to regain the position it had formerly held.

III

Labour Problems

In the period from 1937 to 1941, the Ford company became the only major car manufacturer in the Detroit area that had not recognized any labour union as the collective bargaining representative of employees. At hearings before the National Labor Relations Board Ford was found guilty of repeated violations of the National Labor Relations Act. The findings against him were upheld on appeal to the federal courts. Ford was constrained to negotiate a standard labour contract after a successful strike by the workers at his main plant at River Rouge, Michigan, in April 1941.

IV

Wartime Production

Early in 1941 Ford was granted government contracts whereby he was, at first, to manufacture parts for bombers and, later, the entire aeroplane. He thereupon launched the construction of a huge plant at Willow Run, Michigan, where production was begun in May 1942. Despite certain technical difficulties, by the end of World War II this plant had manufactured more than 8,000 planes.