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Henry Ford and the Assembly Line (Unlocking the Secrets of Science)
Henry Ford and the Assembly Line - Unlocking the Secrets of Science Author:John Bankston Henry Ford's mark in history is almost unbelievable. In 1905, when there were fifty start-up companies a year trying to get into the auto business, his backers at the new Ford Motor Co. were insisiting that the best way to maximize profits was to build a car for the rich. But Ford was from modest, agrarian Michigan roots. And he thought that the... more » guys who made the cars ought to be able to afford one themselves so that they too could go for a spin on a Sunday afternoon. In typical fashion, instead of listening to his backers, Ford eventually bought them out. And that proved to be only the first smart move in a crusade that would make him the father of 20th century American industry. When the black Model T rolled out in 1908, it was hailed as America's Everyman car—elegant in its simplicity and a dream machine not just for engineers but for marketing men as well. Ford instituted industrial mass production, but what really mattered to him was mass consumption. He figured that if he paid his factory workers a real living wage and produced more cars in less time for less money, everyone would buy them. He was right.« less