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Fordism

It is well know that the model T Ford was created by Henry Ford in the early 1900’s. It popularity struck Americans where it counted; in their wallets. The Model T was created by Henry Ford so that all Americans, not just the rich, could have a chance at owning an automobile. Most automobiles at the turn of the century cost somewhere in the range of $1,000.00 to $2,000.00 where the Model T’s off the floor price ran closer to $300.00. So how was Ford able to produce such an affordable car? The real story is not the Model T Ford at all. How Henry Ford was able to not only change the way a car was produced but his ability to change the entire social and economical structure of the United States would be his defining moment.
Unlike common belief, Ford was not the first auto maker to use an assembly line to manufacture cars. Oldsmobile began using assembly lines in 1901. However Ford did something that drastically sped up the process. Ford mass produced parts for his vehicles and created the moving assembly line which took the average build time of one vehicle from twelve hours down to one and one half hours. By doing this Ford was able to speed up production and lower production cost. Ford could now not only sell the Model T for a significantly lower price than other automobiles but he could sell thousands more than his competitors. By using the continuous flow assembly line Ford was able to increase his measure of productivity by 75% over 10 years. Ford could generate 9000 automobiles a day by 1925.
Ford did have one problem with this new type of assembly line. This process made specific jobs very boring and tiresome for his line employees. He began to see great turnover and unrest in employment. So instead of letting this continue Ford decided to change his structure to retain employees. He changed the typical 48 hour work week to a 40 hour work week and created the 5 day work week instead of a 6 day work week. This was...

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