ORIGINS OF MASS PRODUCTION NOT THE WAY FORWARD

Henry and Son

1903 Model A Ford’s Model T was his twentieth design over a five year period that began with the original Model A in 1903.

Ford Model T Model T achieved two objectives; designed for manufacture and user friendly.

Myth Buster Key to mass production was not the moving assembly line myth; belief then and now. It was the complete and consistent interchangeability of parts and the simplicity of attaching them to each other.

True Concept Key to mass production was not the moving assembly line myth; belief then and now. It was the complete and consistent interchangeability of parts and the simplicity of attaching them to each other.

Results His diligence and persistence in this endeavor came from his realization that the payoff would be huge in the form of assembly costs.

Inovation Four cylinder engine block was cast as one piece, compared to competitors that cast four individual cylinders and bolted them together.

Follow the Leader Ford began in 1903 with individual stands on which a whole car was built often by one individual. In 1908 on the eve of Model T introduction an assemblers task cycle was on average 514 minutes of 8.56 hours.

Always Done It This Way For example, a worker might put all the mechanical parts (drive train) – wheels, springs, motor, transmission, and generator—on a chassis, a set of activities that could take a most of a day to complete. The assemblers/fitters performed the same set of work activities over and over at their stationary assembly stands.

Craft Building They retrieved the necessary parts filed or fitted them down and then bolted them in place.

Quality As a Cost Reduction Around 1908 Ford achieved perfect part interchangeability and decided that the assembler would only perform one task and move from vehicle to vehicle performing that task in the assembly building.

Dawn of New Process By August of 1913 the average cycle time for a Ford assembly worker had dropped from 514 minutes to 2.3 minutes. Production soared from elimination of fitting parts one by one to just popping on parts that fit every time. In addition the familiarity of repetitive tasks begets faster times by the worker doing only one task.

Demand Increases By 1913 a new plant in Highland Park was coming online to meet production demands and Ford recognized the problem of workers moving from assembly stand to assembly stand if only a yard or two it still took time. And faster workers overtook slower ones in front of them creating jam- ups.

Parts That Fit Ford’s genius was the introduction of the moving assembly line which brought the car past the stationary worker and reduced cycle time from 2.3 minutes to 1.19 minutes. The differences were due to time saved by the worker standing and not walking and in a faster work pace dictated by the line movement.

Eliminate Wasted Motion Ford first step in efficiency was to deliver the parts to the work stations so workers could remain in the same spot all day.

Unforeseen Consequences And faster workers overtook slower ones in front of them creating jam- ups. Fords genius was the introduction of the moving assembly line which brought the car past the stationary worker and reduced cycle time from 2.3 minutes to 1.19 minutes.

Moving Assembly Line

False Conclusion This innovation was new, highly visible and caused people to notice and falsely give credit to this invention as the Holy Grail of faster assembly times, when in fact it was the perfect interchangeability and division of labor that provided the most dramatic time savings.

Ford Dealership Ford’s discovery simultaneously reduced the human effort needed to assemble an automobile and provided cost savings with each additional vehicle made. The more vehicles produced the lower the cost for each one.

Price Cuts Coming to Your Dealer? From the 1908 beginnings of production until peak numbers of two million a year in the early 1920s Ford steadily reduced the original retail price of his car by two thirds.

One Day’s Production

Human Resource Treatment Ford instituted the 5 dollar a day program

12,000 Employees At its peak Model T production required large numbers of employees

Vertical Integration

Toyota’s View

The Way Forward In 2006 Ford Motor Company Lost In Excess of 2 Billion Dollars