How Did Henry Ford's Remarkable Progress

Before the remarkable progress in technology, innovations were limited, so the first cars were hand-built. This changed, however, when an eager young man named Henry Ford invented something that significantly altered production movement and manufacturing. During the 1890s, factories were loud, crowded, and bustling. They had an order to them, however, something was missing. The creation of the assembly line would change both how things were made, and the amount of time it took to produce items. Using interchangeable parts, Ford was able to perfect the assembly line, and forever change how automobiles and even other items were made. Today’s technologies have been greatly affected by the remarkable progress he made in the early 20th century.
Through the innovation of the assembly line, Henry Ford mastered the production of the automobile in an efficient manner, which would greatly impact society for generations to come.
As an avid engineer, Henry Ford was always looking for another project. Ford was very much an autodidact, and loved to learn. From a young age, he had a passion for taking things apart, rebuilding them, and repeating the process (“Henry Ford- American Experience”). He began building things like the quadricycle, a self-propelled vehicle similar to a bicycle (Bryan 1). He also took apart household appliances like watches and clocks to increase his knowledge in mechanics and building techniques. This childhood passion would later shape his career and inspire him to build automobiles. He once had a proposal to design pocket watches and mass produce them. This idea would stick with him later on in his life and lead to grand things (Stanford 1). Intrigued by mechanics and engineering, Ford was inspired to venture into a horseless carriage company. Although he had engineering skill, he lacked knowledge in business management. Thus, the company failed, but because Ford was a nonstop man, and he never let defeat stop him. He once said that "failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently” (Andersen 1). Ultimately, that is what he did, and all the times of disappointment led to greater accomplishments in his future. After failing in the horseless carriage industry, he enjoyed the pastime of racing cars. Inspired, Ford decided to build his own. This may have been what led him to become the well-known man he is today. His race cars **intrigued** many, thus leading to groups of financial support that enabled him to open the now famous Ford Motor Company (“His Early Life as an Inventor”).
Although it may be surprising to some, Henry Ford did not create the automobile.
He did, however, profoundly changed the automobile industry. Ford's first automobile was the Model A. The later improvement of this model was known as the Model N. Ford's next invention was by far his most successful car. He had dedicated a great deal of time to this model, and gave it his all. “There was no guessing as to whether or not it would be a successful model. It had to be”, said Ford of his latest car (Ford 51). It was known as the “motorcar for the great multitude” (Ford 52). It had functionality, style, and everything Americans were looking for in the New Age. Ford’s new vehicle was high in demand, and he concluded that this would be the only model his company manufactured. It would be a simple car, and everything would be identical. To save money, a “customer [could] have a car painted any colour that he want[ed] so long as it [was] black” (Ford 52). This lead to a great need for workers at his factory called Highland Park. As a result of mass producing the Model T, Ford was able to lower production cost and made a rather large profit he could offer to his employees. (restate, connect) Employees were paid a salary of $5 per 8 hour shift (Stanford 1). This was a desirable wage to earn, and Henry Ford became known for his “extraordinary gesture of goodwill” (Stanford 1). The $5 salary offered by Ford came with a catch. Employees at Highland Park were educated and taught basic life skills. To ensure that his employees were becoming “Fordized” (Stanford 1), he set up the Sociology Department that did random home checks on employees to ensure that his employees were adapting to the industrialist lifestyle in Detroit. Ford’s generously high wages created a new social class that could afford to buy his products. Americans had extra money and could spend it on New Age luxury items such as the Model T. Ultimately, Ford failed at many things at the start of his career, but he
never let fear stop him, and this drive eventually led to him creating an impressive machine that would cut production time of the Model T from 14 hours to just above an hour (Stanford 1).