Real Institute of Management and

Research , Nagpur

Subject
Management Case Analysis

Henry Ford - A Great Innovator

Vision
"Ford's action transformed American industrial society."
Introduction
 Background Note

Ford was born on July 30, 1863 during the US Civil War in a farmland at
Dearborn, near Detroit, Michigan. His mother passed away in
March 1876.
Later the same year, Ford got a job at the Michigan Car Company, but
was sacked six days later for indicating a flaw in his foreman's work
(Refer Exhibit I for important events in Ford's life). As a boy, Ford
developed his interest in mechanics by taking watches apart to look
at how they worked.
He would take the watch apart and then make it work again by joining
the components together. Describing Ford's nature, Brinkley said,
"Like the automobile itself, Ford's mind was never stationary.
 The 'Mechanical' Journey of Ford
In September 1891, Ford joined the Edison Illuminating Company (EIC)
in Detroit as a night operating engineer at its sub-station at
Woodward and Willis (Detroit) at a monthly salary of $45. In just a
couple of years, he became the Chief Engineer, earning $100 per
month. His responsibilities included ensuring uninterrupted electric
supply in the city for all 24 hours in a day.
The work schedule and timings were highly irregular, but this provided
him the much-needed opportunity, time and finances to carry out
his own experiments on internal combustion engines. Ford
experimented with petrol-driven engines and horseless carriages
for many years. In the early 1890s, he labored to develop a cost-
effective small farm tractor.
 Ford – The
Master
Craftsman of
Automobile

By the end of 1903, the Ford Co. had 125 employees and had sold 1,708 cars in
three different models. These automobiles were fitted with two cylinders and
had a capacity of 8 HP. Ford and his team of engineers developed 19 models
during the period 1903-1908 and named them each after a letter of the
alphabet from 'Model A' to 'Model S.' During the same period, Ford himself
introduced five models – Models A, B, C, F and K.
Assembly-Line – A 'Paradigm Shift' in Automobile Manufacturing

The Ford Co. started its car

manufacturing operations using
the craft production system in
1903. Under this system, all
cars were made up of the basic
chassis and engine, but the
body was designed to suit
individual tastes. In this system,
the manufacturing costs were
high and did not decline with
increase in volumes.