Ford, Henry

Henry Ford (1863–1947) is one of the most paradoxical figures in American history: an innovative industrial businessman about whom much is known but who in the end still remains enigmatic. He is enigmatic partly as a personality and partly as a representative of an era. Henry Ford also is a figure recognized for his popular hero appeal to the American public. He is credited with the concept of mass production, a manufacturing practice that the Ford Motor Company adopted toward the end of World War I for the production of its Model T car.

Henry Ford was born on a farm near Greenfield, Michigan, in 1863 and was educated in public schools. At the age of 16, he became a machinist's apprentice. In 1888, he married Clara Janet Bryant. In 1891, he became an engineer at the Edison Illumination Company in Detroit. Henry Ford had one son, Edsel Bryant Ford, born in 1893.

Ford made his first car, the “Quadricycle Runabout,” in the summer of 1896. This car had a 4-horsepower engine and could reach speeds of 20 miles per hour. He sold the car for $200 to invest in his second car, which was completed in early 1898.

In June of 1903, Henry Ford, armed with $28,000, and 11 business associates founded what has turned into one of the world's largest automobile manufacturers: the Ford Motor Company. These pioneers turned what was a small dream into a gigantic business.

In 1907, Henry Ford announced his goal for the Ford Motor Company: to mass produce automobiles. At that time, automobiles were expensive, custom-made machines. Ford produced 1,708 cars the first year. In 1908, he rolled out the Model T. His success with the Model T has been attributed to the combination of modern features and a low price that most American families could afford.

Henry Ford has traditionally been credited with combining standardized parts with the concept of the moving assembly line to form true mass production assembly in 1913. Ford's engineers took the first step toward this goal by designing the Model T, a simple, sturdy car, offering no factory options—not even a choice of color. The focus on innovation began to shift to process innovation, including the development of mass automobile production by using the moving assembly line, which was a key to the success of the Model T.

Ford also began the practice of increasing wages to improve employee morale, thus improving overall performance. In 1914, Ford workers' wages were raised to $5 a day minimum wage—an excellent wage—and the workers soon proved their loyalty to the company by purchasing their own Model Ts. Ford was called and thought a traitor by other manufacturers and competitors. He added organizational psychology that made every employee a partner in the drive for success. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, his plants switched to war production. Efficient production line methods enabled him to cut the cost of his products while simultaneously increasing wages so that his employees were the highest paid in the industry.

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