Henry Ford - A Great Innovator

Assembly-Line – A 'Paradigm Shift' in Automobile Manufacturing Contd...

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.

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."²⁴ 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.

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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.

Case Details

Case Code : LDEN025
Themes: Corporate Social Responsibility, Entrepreneurship
Case Length : 13 Pages
Period : 1903
Organization : Ford Motor Corporation
Pub Date : 2003
Teaching Note : Not Available
Countries : USA
Industry : Automobile

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