Henry Ford, Revolutionary Man
Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, is one of the most important men in economic history thanks to his ideas and visions he became one of the richest men in the United States, and in his entire life he recorded 161 patents. He was an entrepreneur with a great global vision even though his education was rather precarious.
The man who promoted the car and began using chain production in the United States, was born while the American civil war was still being free, on July 30, 1863, the first son of William Ford and Mary Litogot owners of a farm in the municipalityfrom Greenfield, Mischigan. From an early age it is said that Henry Ford was very attracted to the machines. In the summer of 1873 Henry saw for the first time a machine that was propelled by itself, a stationary steam machine that was used for agricultural activities. The owner of this machine, Fred Reden, had joined some wheels by connecting them through a chain. Henry fascinated by this idea, became the apprentice of redemption, being this one who taught him how to turn on and control the engine. It was then learned that this experience was the one that motivated him to enter the world of engineer.
When Ford was a little older, he learned to fix watches, and with only 15 years he had already earned a great reputation in his area, after having repaired large amounts of watches for his neighbors.
Unfortunately, it was in 1876, when Henry Ford loses his mother, a hard blow to him, but at the same time drove him to get away from the agricultural activities to which he dedicated most of the time along with his father, something that, as expected, it was not liked for the father, since he hoped that Ford finally took care of the farm.
In the following years the young Henry worked on various positions and companies that were related to the machines. I saw each job as an opportunity to learn new things, and when I noticed that else I could continue learning more, I did not hesitate to find a new job.
After this stage as an apprentice in the industrial sector, Ford decides to launch his first business project. With the help of some friends he did automotive experiments that ended, in 1896, with the manufacture of his first self-propelled vehicle: "The quadricycle". This was formed by four wire wheels (similar to those of a bicycle) and was driving with a boat rudder.
The second car he created arrived in 1868, and this time Henry tried to convince a group of businessmen to support their new project: create a company where they could make the car to, later, sell it. But Henry’s mismanagement brought the failure to its first two attempts to create a company.
In 1903, thanks to the acquired experience, Henry managed to found the Ford Motor Company, along with other eleven investors and an initial investment of 28 thousand dollars. The first car that created the company was the "Model A", which was followed by several improved models and all ready to sell at affordable prices.
Ford, then had a vision that was about to revolutionize the car industry, that of "a car for the great crowd". Under this premise, the construction of the “T” model begins, launched to the market on October 1, 1908, and that brought with it a large number of innovations, as was that it had the wheel to the left, something that later the rest laterof companies would imitate, or that the entire engine and transmission were closed, among other things.
This car was very simple to drive and, most importantly, it was very cheap and easy to repair. In 1910 the company moved to a new plant in Highland Park Michigan. This is where Ford Motor Company starts a relentless campaign to increase the units produced and reduce costs, and already by the end of 1913, he had developed a large assembly chain for cars, something that had never been done before.
On the other hand, the workers did not have just convinced this new work style as repetitive, and since the business volume was so high, the company was involved in a serious problem of high rotation of personnel to which Henry responded by increasing moreof double the salaries of a factory worker, going from 2 dollars a day to $ 5. He got the support and satisfaction of his workers again, at the same time as the demand only to increase and the sales of the “T” model with it, in addition to allowing its employees to also buy it in installments.
By 1918 half of the cars in the United States were the "T" model, a year later Ford, tired of the interference of his company’s partners, decided to buy all the shares and became the only owner of the largest companyAutomobile of the world. However, success led him to believe that the "T" model was what the large part of people wanted, ignoring other cars of different brands, more expensive, but more elegant and comfortable, as was forExample Chevrolet, thus ignoring its executives who demanded new models.
At the end of the 1920s, the decline of the sales of Ford Motor Company became evident, so Henry was forced in 1927, to close the assembly lines of the T model, and much to his spite, he began to designA new car.
All steps in the manufacturing process ranging from refine raw materials to the final assembly, took place in the Great Rouge Plant. The one that, over time, would become the largest factory in the world since cars were not only produced there, but also steel, glass, tires and other components.
In 1932, at age 69, Ford presents its last great automobile innovation: the "V8", cheap and light. An engine that, although initially seemed impossible to manufacture, thanks to the persistence of Ford, was finally materialized by its engineers.
Henry Ford and also made important contributions to the aviation industry. The "Ford Airport", in Dearborn, was one of the best airports in the world when it opened, in 1925. To this is added the near "Dearborn Inn" that became one of the first hotels/airports in the country.
Some advances by Henry Ford in Radionavación made flying today much safer for everyone;Although, unfortunately, none of its aviation companies was profitable and all of them ceased to exist in 1932. Since, the great depression of 1929 forced him to focus on his car business, and aeronautical technology was changing too fast for his assembly techniques.
Henry Ford did not invent the car or the assembly chain, but it was a visionary who managed to redefine the automotive industry. In addition to its contributions to the business world, being propeller of the serial or chain production model, known as “Fordism”, pioneer of the welfare state through the consumer society, seeking to improve the standard of living of its workers andreduce your rotation. He promoted administrative models in which the bureaucracy of the industrial function was separated by implementing the 40 -hour work week and significantly increasing the salary of its workers. Although many of these Ford innovations were criticized and questioned at the time, they would later become the benchmark for many other businessmen of the time.
In contrast to its tremendous business success, Ford also had a dark facet, using his power and money to spread anti -Semitic messages that served as inspiration for extreme right movements such as Nazism in Germany. In addition, he is accused of having supported and financed Adolf Hitler so that his ideas were launched.
In conclusion, Henry Ford was a visionary, revolutionary and powerful man who, with his lights and shadows, marked a before and after passing through this world. Their contributions to the business world opened the way to a new era, massifying industrial production and building a legacy that will serve as a reference throughout history.
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