The Assembly Line
Becoming popularly used by Ford Motor Company in 1913, moving assembly lines were the efficient manufacturing process for success. Ford, after instituting the moving assembly line in his own factories, eventually publicly exposed the genius process, which quickly became the preferred method of manufacturing for many industries that made consumer products. Mass production, which was the common name for manufacturing via assembly line, led to an age of mass consumption, causing Americans to want more. (Davidson and Sweeney 167). The production of a magneto initially took about 20 minutes with conventional methods. The introduction of the moving assembly line, which moved a constant pace, caused that time to decrease to about 13 minutes. A Model T initially took about 12 hours to produce from scratch, but it only took about 1 and a half hours to produce from scratch using the assembly line ("Henry Ford" The American Experience).
The moving assembly line was not initially as liked as most would assume. It did cause problems with the workers. The workers were subjected to simple, repetitive, mundane tasks every second of every day. After a while, many workers did not the work of doing the same tedious task hundreds, if not thousands, of times a day. This, to Ford's surprise, caused the laborers to become agitated and angered with the management. In order to to appease the potentially violent laborers, Ford devised a plan that would benefit everybody. He changed both the workers' salaries and working hours. Rather than a diminutive $2.00 a day salary, Ford Motor Company paid its employees $5.00 a day. On top of that, the work days were reduced to 8 hours a day, because of the assembly line. Ford wanted the employees to be able to afford the products that they worked so hard to produce ("Henry Ford" American 1). While some saw the repetition as dehumanizing and even slave-like, Ford did not agree. Ford saw the repetition as an unskilled job that does not require much thinking to be done. Ford thought that the less thinking that the workers could do would lead to there being less possible dangers, problems, or horrible situations (Davidson and Sweeney 167).
The assembly achieved a great deal of success, numerically speaking. Because of the immense volume of Model T's produced, the prices continued to decrease almost every year until the end of the Model T's production. For example, the Model T cost about $950 in the year 1909, but because of increasing output of Model T's, the price in 1924 decreased to about $290 (Davidson and Sweeney 173). Ford believed that time was money and the assembly saved him money. Because of the ever rising amount of Model T's made each year, the prices went down each year as a result. The price of a Model T was about $345 in the year 1916, and it continued to go down from there because of the increasing assembly line. The assembly was efficient and productive from the start, but as time progressed, Ford wanted more efficiency and more productivity. He achieved his desire for more efficiency and more productivity. The amounts of Model T's sold increase every year. The one millionth Model T was sold in December 1915, the two millionth was in June 1917, the three millionth was sold in April of the year 1919, and the four millionth was sold in the month of May in the year 1920. The gaps between the major sales decreased almost each time. It took about 18 months after the first million to sell the second million. About 22 months lapsed between the sales of the second and third million units. Only 13 months passed between the sales of the third and fourth million Model T's, which showed the increase in the assembly line usage (Young 59). Ford wanted to make the lives better for each American, whether they were the abundant working class or the elite aristocracy. The way he made their lives better was to make it affordable, which was done by increasing the volume of Model T's produced (Tedlow 119). Not only was the assembly line used for producing Model T's, but during World War II, it helped build ammunitions for the United States military. In 1941, Ford Motor Company began its manufacturing of ammunition for the Allied forces, which included the production of B-24 bombers ("Henry Ford" American 1).
This method of production has revolutionized the economy forever. Basic economics states that as supply goes up and demand remains the same, the prices go down. Prices especially decreases if the demand increases as the supply increases. With the lowered prices, the common man could afford to buy a Ford product, probably the Model T, without going into extreme economic debt. This simple fact of mass production to provide for the common man revolutionized the economy. Not only were those who were part of the upper class of society able to purchase the Model T's, but so were the lower class, because of the assembly line that led to the revolutionary five dollar work day. This salary revolutionized the economy forever, causing the workers to finally be able to enjoy a privilege that the economic elite could have only enjoyed before the mass production process. Ford's mass production is still used today in most, if not all, factories that produce consumer goods. Without an abundance of products, the consumer cannot afford the product.
Pictures:
Header: "1924 Model T Assembly Line"
Side: "1949 Ford Strike, Assembly Lines, Dearborn, Michigan"
The moving assembly line was not initially as liked as most would assume. It did cause problems with the workers. The workers were subjected to simple, repetitive, mundane tasks every second of every day. After a while, many workers did not the work of doing the same tedious task hundreds, if not thousands, of times a day. This, to Ford's surprise, caused the laborers to become agitated and angered with the management. In order to to appease the potentially violent laborers, Ford devised a plan that would benefit everybody. He changed both the workers' salaries and working hours. Rather than a diminutive $2.00 a day salary, Ford Motor Company paid its employees $5.00 a day. On top of that, the work days were reduced to 8 hours a day, because of the assembly line. Ford wanted the employees to be able to afford the products that they worked so hard to produce ("Henry Ford" American 1). While some saw the repetition as dehumanizing and even slave-like, Ford did not agree. Ford saw the repetition as an unskilled job that does not require much thinking to be done. Ford thought that the less thinking that the workers could do would lead to there being less possible dangers, problems, or horrible situations (Davidson and Sweeney 167).
The assembly achieved a great deal of success, numerically speaking. Because of the immense volume of Model T's produced, the prices continued to decrease almost every year until the end of the Model T's production. For example, the Model T cost about $950 in the year 1909, but because of increasing output of Model T's, the price in 1924 decreased to about $290 (Davidson and Sweeney 173). Ford believed that time was money and the assembly saved him money. Because of the ever rising amount of Model T's made each year, the prices went down each year as a result. The price of a Model T was about $345 in the year 1916, and it continued to go down from there because of the increasing assembly line. The assembly was efficient and productive from the start, but as time progressed, Ford wanted more efficiency and more productivity. He achieved his desire for more efficiency and more productivity. The amounts of Model T's sold increase every year. The one millionth Model T was sold in December 1915, the two millionth was in June 1917, the three millionth was sold in April of the year 1919, and the four millionth was sold in the month of May in the year 1920. The gaps between the major sales decreased almost each time. It took about 18 months after the first million to sell the second million. About 22 months lapsed between the sales of the second and third million units. Only 13 months passed between the sales of the third and fourth million Model T's, which showed the increase in the assembly line usage (Young 59). Ford wanted to make the lives better for each American, whether they were the abundant working class or the elite aristocracy. The way he made their lives better was to make it affordable, which was done by increasing the volume of Model T's produced (Tedlow 119). Not only was the assembly line used for producing Model T's, but during World War II, it helped build ammunitions for the United States military. In 1941, Ford Motor Company began its manufacturing of ammunition for the Allied forces, which included the production of B-24 bombers ("Henry Ford" American 1).
This method of production has revolutionized the economy forever. Basic economics states that as supply goes up and demand remains the same, the prices go down. Prices especially decreases if the demand increases as the supply increases. With the lowered prices, the common man could afford to buy a Ford product, probably the Model T, without going into extreme economic debt. This simple fact of mass production to provide for the common man revolutionized the economy. Not only were those who were part of the upper class of society able to purchase the Model T's, but so were the lower class, because of the assembly line that led to the revolutionary five dollar work day. This salary revolutionized the economy forever, causing the workers to finally be able to enjoy a privilege that the economic elite could have only enjoyed before the mass production process. Ford's mass production is still used today in most, if not all, factories that produce consumer goods. Without an abundance of products, the consumer cannot afford the product.
Pictures:
Header: "1924 Model T Assembly Line"
Side: "1949 Ford Strike, Assembly Lines, Dearborn, Michigan"