How Henry Ford Perfected Cost Minimization and use in Today’s Production
For decades Henry Ford has been known as an innovator and father of the assembly line. Not only did he introduce the assembly line to the industrial world, but he also perfected many aspects of cost minimization in order to build an affordable car for everyone. From the ability to use unskilled labour more efficiently than most companies utilise skilled workers, to ensuring that those workers are working to the peak of their ability, Henry Ford perfected many parts of cost minimization. Many of his advances in the field continue to be used today in the automotive industries as well as other manufacturing companies across the world. This paper will touch on just a few of …show more content…
Prior to the assembly line, workers at Ford Motor Company were required to know most, if not all of the processes involved in the assembly of a vehicle. This amount of information was not common knowledge, and people would have had to be trained extensively before being able to take on their responsibilities. With the introduction of the assembly line, workers could now focus on a single simple task such as threading on a few bolts or mounting a bracket, rather than concerning themselves with the assembly of the entire car. This means that workers with less skill could be hired to work in the factory without the complications, as well as said workers being able to replace fellow workers on the production line if need be. Another reason that removing the need for skill is beneficial is that the workers no longer had to think, which took up valuable time and allowed for human error. By stripping each employee’s job to the basics, they no longer had to contemplate what task do to next or how to do a specific job that they were not confident with, since each worker only had one job and was confident in that job. This boosted production immensely in the factory as each worker became an expert in their singular task and were able to complete them with increased proficiency. This approach is still used in factories all …show more content…
To do this he employed the help of mechanical engineer Frederick Taylor in 1908, who had been working on his theory of scientific management at the time. Frederick Taylor had specialized in motion studies and was interested in how to make production as efficient as possible from a laborer’s standpoint. To do this, Taylor along with Ford studied how the employees worked within the factory and discovered ways to minimize the amount of work that each worker needed to do. By doing this, Ford determined which parts to move to the car for assembly, and for which parts it was easier to move the entire car to attach. He had also moved machines in order to minimize the amount of walking needed for each worker. This alone greatly increased efficiency and made Ford Motor Company a highly profitable business. Henry Ford continued to use the knowledge from Frederick Taylor in his factory, and was able to further his work in the use of the assembly line. This type of motion minimization is used commonly across the world, and is so important to manufacturing companies that they have employees dedicated solely to analysing worker’s movements and developing ways to minimize the movement and time
For decades Henry Ford has been known as an innovator and father of the assembly line. Not only did he introduce the assembly line to the industrial world, but he also perfected many aspects of cost minimization in order to build an affordable car for everyone. From the ability to use unskilled labour more efficiently than most companies utilise skilled workers, to ensuring that those workers are working to the peak of their ability, Henry Ford perfected many parts of cost minimization. Many of his advances in the field continue to be used today in the automotive industries as well as other manufacturing companies across the world. This paper will touch on just a few of …show more content…
Prior to the assembly line, workers at Ford Motor Company were required to know most, if not all of the processes involved in the assembly of a vehicle. This amount of information was not common knowledge, and people would have had to be trained extensively before being able to take on their responsibilities. With the introduction of the assembly line, workers could now focus on a single simple task such as threading on a few bolts or mounting a bracket, rather than concerning themselves with the assembly of the entire car. This means that workers with less skill could be hired to work in the factory without the complications, as well as said workers being able to replace fellow workers on the production line if need be. Another reason that removing the need for skill is beneficial is that the workers no longer had to think, which took up valuable time and allowed for human error. By stripping each employee’s job to the basics, they no longer had to contemplate what task do to next or how to do a specific job that they were not confident with, since each worker only had one job and was confident in that job. This boosted production immensely in the factory as each worker became an expert in their singular task and were able to complete them with increased proficiency. This approach is still used in factories all …show more content…
To do this he employed the help of mechanical engineer Frederick Taylor in 1908, who had been working on his theory of scientific management at the time. Frederick Taylor had specialized in motion studies and was interested in how to make production as efficient as possible from a laborer’s standpoint. To do this, Taylor along with Ford studied how the employees worked within the factory and discovered ways to minimize the amount of work that each worker needed to do. By doing this, Ford determined which parts to move to the car for assembly, and for which parts it was easier to move the entire car to attach. He had also moved machines in order to minimize the amount of walking needed for each worker. This alone greatly increased efficiency and made Ford Motor Company a highly profitable business. Henry Ford continued to use the knowledge from Frederick Taylor in his factory, and was able to further his work in the use of the assembly line. This type of motion minimization is used commonly across the world, and is so important to manufacturing companies that they have employees dedicated solely to analysing worker’s movements and developing ways to minimize the movement and time