The automotive industry is one of great historical importance worldwide. On a global scale the combustible engine serves a number of purposes. Generating power from a combination of fuel, air and fire, the engine can power just about anything from the most powerful trucks to modest lawnmowers. The concept of the combustible engine has changed very minimally throughout history. The innovations have come in the forms of new materials, technological advances and pr

The assembly line was responsible for an enormous increase in the number of people employed in the automobile industry. In 1914, 3,000 people worked in automotive plants in Detroit. By 1919, that number increased to 75,000. The reason was simply Ford's initial breaking down of tasks to each individual worker. Ford, himself, improved his own productivity by 90 percent in one year between 1913 and 1914.

The demand was high for the car but production was slow because each car was individually handmade. Ford knew that if he were going to satisfy the demand he would have to speed up production. This demand led Ford to investigate conveyor belts and how he could use them to increase production and lower costs. Ford built an automatic conveyor belt and organized teams that added parts to each Model T as it moved down the line. By 1914, his Highland Park plant was churning out a car every 93 minutes (Iacocca, 1998). The chassis assembly alone was cut from 12 hours to one hour and 33 minutes, a dramatic time saver for the assemblers. Ford spent about $3,500 to build the conveyor belt that would move the cars down an assembly line. This was a significant change; rather than the workers moving from one car assembly to the next, the car moved saving time and money. The components needed were funneled to the teams so the workers didn't even have to waste time moving to parts bins for what they needed (Iacocca, 1998). In 1915, mass production had allowed Ford to sell its millionth car (Crews, 1998). By 1927, the year production ended for the Model T, more than 15 million cars had been sold. That was half of the world's output of cars. Ford had designed a car that was easy to manufacture and one that could be owned by a large number of people (Iacocca, 1998).

Ford also knew that he needed a system to sell and repair cars and he knew the facilities needed to be local. He invented the dealer-franchise system to fill these needs. The facilities were nicknamed Ford's "road men." By 1912, there were 7,000 Ford dealers across the country (Iacocca, 1998).

ocesses by which these engines could run more efficiently. In today's automobiles the technical aspects are countless, the crank start ignitions of yesterday were quickly replaced with electric starters. We can also include on-board computers as possibly one of the greatest advancements in the automotive industry, not forgetting to mention all the other modern features from fuel injection to air-conditioning all the way down the line to cup-holders. Cars today have become so complex that prices can be found in a wide spectrum. Aside from refueling, it is practically impossible to maintain and repair vehicles without a number of specific parts and tools. The manufacturer of that particular make of car usually standardizes these parts and tools.

Ford initiated industrial mass production in his auto plants but his interest was in mass consumption (Iacocca, 1998). Ford said, "Mass production requires mass consumption, which means higher wages" (Foster, 1988: p. 14). His philosophy was simply this: if everyone earned a decent wage and he produced more cars in less time for less money, everyone in the country would buy his cars. One of the actions Ford took in 1913 to actualize his vision was to increase the minimum daily wage of workers to $5.00 from $2.34 for a 9-hour shift, which was the average in the auto industry. He also reduced the workday to 8-hour shifts. The Wall Street Journal called Ford's action "an economic crime" because no one could make that much money without a significant amount of training or education. Critics worldwide called it "Fordism," not meant as a compliment. Ford lowered his costs of building each car so much, that the wages did not really matter, in fact, the increase in daily wages made it possible for more people to buy ca

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Approximate Word count = 2600
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)