Sample Article
VirgilioEspinal
January 6, 2021
What is the impact of Ford’s Motor Company assembly line manufacturing on its general success?
After going through several research pieces: drawn from different sources, data collected was subjected to group scrutiny to come up with the most appropriate research question. In this light, the best Research question was “What is the impact of Ford’s Motor Company assembly line manufacturing on its general success?” An attempt to answer this question led us to believe that the data might sell us lessons for newly launched start-up companies. Clever allusion of our company’s hierarchical status to that of Ford’s Motor Company helps us engrain an image of robust existence over our rivals.
There was a collection of information from different sources. Some of these sources served as primary sources, whereas the rest served as secondary sources. Before getting into the findings, we would like to take a brief look at some of these sources that served as primary;
The first source was, Industrial invention; Heroic or Systematic? This was a book written by Epstein Ralph C in the late 1920s. Epstein wrote the book at a moment when the industrial revolution was at its peak. The author was born in Chicago, Illinois. He lived together with his family. Among his achievements include; receiving a Masters and a doctoral degree from Harvard University. He served as Dean of the School of Business, which is later known as the School of Management from 1935 1947.
Other authors who join along as primary sources’ authors include; Robinson Austin, the author of, the problematic management and firms’ size. Similarly, here we have articles and direct quotations from Mr Ford himself. It was published roughly around the same time as the others. This implies that most of the primary sources applied here got retrieved from the era in which Ford Motor Company was still in its toddler stages.
On the other hand, there was reliance on some secondary sources. Part of the authors from this library of books include; Mary, Sahar Arqawi from Palestine, alongside Samer M Arqawi, an Assistant Professor, Industrial Management Department, Palestine Technical University. Both worked on a piece called “Lean Manufacturing dimensions and its relationships in promoting the improvement of production processes in industrial companies.”
There’s a heavy focus on some of the Ford automobile company’s manufacturing approaches in the early stage to the primary sources. They showcase first-hand data as happened back then, and this helps build up the credibility element. On the other hand, secondary sources, the newly carried out research, help us gain an in-depth perspective. This is because of the benefit brought about by the time factor, which enables us to look at the massage based on a much more prolonged time.
Mass production suffers from several factors. However, by adherence to particular manufacturing management rules relying on economic laws, the Ford Motor Company could attain low production costs. Some of the principles include concentration on a single product, the distinction of each article, and specific subdivision of work to make the number of operations few per worker. However, the skill of management in manufacturing is defined as a talent born in a man. With heavy reliance on economic laws laid down, leadership seems to deliver the same results as those of Ford Motor Company. The above rules were first introduced by LP, offered in a paper presented before the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as recently as December 1926. (Austin, 1934)
In the earlier stages of manufacturing, many companies suffered from the fear of unemployment. This is attributed to the volatile wages the human resource received. However, quotating Mr Ford himself in an interview, “The fear of unemployment that haunted many, amounted to the detriment of efficiency. However, it had practically eliminated it in the Ford industries.” From this, we can see, but humans play a significant role in the manufacturing line. Addressing most of their needs helps put them in the right mindset enabling effective workmanship. Ford Motor Company seems to have implemented this from the early 1900s, and the process appears to be coming in handy. (Coutant, 1934)
A dominant factor that seems to prevail in both cases is the price policy. It is essential to note that a decrease or an increase in price leads to severe changes in the demand for a particular good or service. (Arqawi, 2020) Therefore, before setting prices, policies have to be put in place to ensure flexibility to ensure a win-win scenario between the manufacturers and the buyers. The price range should always come close to a buyer’s quotations (Coutant, 1934)
Another change of approach in Ford Motor Company’s manufacturing docket is its branches close to water catchment areas. Manufacturing is an expensive activity that requires large volumes of water and a relentless supply of energy. Acquisition and transportation of water via different channels might pose significant economic loads. Therefore, a couple of Ford companies have been situated near lakes. This has cut the cost of production by unit by almost half. Consequently, much is made from the little that is used. However, the above does more harm than good to the Earth’s ecological balance (Kashmanian, 2016)
Ford Motor Company is creative about its future. There is the extensive embrace of technological route lines to develop all-electric vehicles and create new sales and service networks by 2022. The company aims to expand its fleet of cars to 40, whereby 16 of them will be electric vehicles. The company strives hard to train its suppliers to meet all its CSR and environmental objectives (Kashmanian, 2016)
It is also important to note that most of the manufacturing processes that were previously carried out by human resources have been taken over by autonomous machines. This heavy application of technology in the manufacturer process increases efficiency as well as the speed of assembly. Moreover, it is cheaper to fuel and maintain a single machine than maintain 40 workers who do the same task. These are some of the approaches that have aided the company in achieving most of its projected milestones. such endeavours include applying 3D printing in cars, computerizing most of the accessories, and finally, artificial intelligence backup to handle errors resulting from human failures. (Dulmage, 1938)
From the above, we can validate that technology’s introduction is one of the many advances that simplify and provide more room for creativity and ingenuity.
In a nutshell, this company’s manufacturing assembly line has played a massive role in acting as stepping stones to eventual success. Several changes and implementation of unplanned manufacturing approach overtime only proved that this company is set for some success from the word go.
Therefore, addressing our prime question, we had to find out the manufacturing assembly line’s role on Ford’s Assembly Line’s overall success. Hence, we can confidently infer that the latter is one of the critical pillars that aids the company make significant strides.
References
Coutant, F. R. (1934). Research as an Aid to Pricing and Production. American Marketing Journal, (3), 119-124.
Epstein, R. C. (1926). Industrial invention: Heroic, or systematic? The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 40(2), 232-272.
Dulmage, W. W. (1938). The Raw Water Supply of the Ford Motor Company. Journal (American Water Works Association), 30(1), 67-77.
DEANE, H. J. (1932). THE JETTY WORKS OF THE FORD MOTOR COMPANY AT DAGENHAM. (INCLUDES APPENDICES AND PLATE AT BACK OF VOLUME). In Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers (Vol. 234, No. 1932, pp. 312-327). Thomas Telford-ICE Virtual Library.
Kashmanian, R. M.(2016). Company Engagement in Community-Based Water Resource Projects: Improving Water Security.” Environmental Quality Management25(3), 5-35.