Assembly Line
I. Introduction:| Assembly Line, -n. | |
| A sequence of machines, tools, operations, workers, etc, in a factory, arranged so that at each stage a further process is carried out. The assembly line was first perfected between 1908 to 1915 by Henry Ford because of the need for a faster way t produce cars. This creation forever changed the way products were manufactured. II. Discovery: In the late 19th century most manufactured products were made individually by hand. A craftsman would build there part of the product and then join it together with the other pieces. Before the Industrial Revolution the world new did not commonly use the assembly line method, while it had been around for many years already. The Ford Assembly Line was developed after William "Pa" Klann visited a slaughter house in Chicago and saw what he called a "disassembly line", which was used to gut, skin, and butchered. He noticed that the same person removed the same part of the animal every time the animal was passed to him and then would pass it on to the next person. William then told Peter E. Martin, Head of Production for Ford about the idea of an assembly line, and the idea was passed along to Henry Ford. The process was then put to trial and error. After all of the problem had been worked out Ford's cars were able to be produced one every three minutes. This was so fast that the cars were only available in one color, black, because other paint wouldn't die fast enough. Because the assembly line could produce cars so fast, the price of them dropped greatly, with the average worker able to buy one with only about four months pay. Soon other companies began to use the assembly line to. Ford considered suing them for stealing his ideas but decide against it because he realized it would benefit industry greatly. Because of the assembly line, Ford was able to quickly spread to other countries, forcing other companies to switch to assembly lines in order to survive. Those that had not switched by 1930 disappeared. However, the assembly line did have some problems. Besides the boredom that comes with standing in the same spot all day doing the same thing over and over again, many workers had ear damage from the loud nosies of the factory and only had about 25 centimeters to move around. The assembly line was a fairly basic idea that has only grown in size sense. Today, most assembly line building is done by machines with humans only need to supervise. III. Biography of the Discoverer: Henry Ford was born July 30, 1863. He is most popular for developing the assembly line, which changed the ways of production worldwide. For most of his early life Ford worked on the family farm just outside of Detroit, Mi with his two brothers and two sisters. After his mothers death in 1876 Ford went to work in Detroit. He later returned to the farm in 1882 to help out his family. In 1888 Ford married Clara Ala Bryant and supported his family buy running a sawmill and farming. They had one child, Edsel Ford. in 1891 Ford started working for Edison Illuminating Company were he developed a self propelled vehicle called the "Ford Quadricycle". After many test drives, Ford began to improve his design. After many failed attempts, Ford finally was able to start his own car company. Ford died in from a Cerebral Hemorrhage in 1947 at the age of 83, leaving is grandson in charge of his company. IV. Impact on the World: The assembly line impacted the world in many ways. It helped to create more jobs and lower prices for automobiles, and ultimately everything. The assembly line forced all other major companies to switch to assembly lines to compete with the other companies that had already switched to assembly lines. In doing so this boosted the globe economy and might have even been a major starter for the Industrial Revolution. It also paved the way for many scientific advances, such as, the creation of basic robots and other, more elaborate machinery that has ultimately taken the place of most people. V. Journal Review: This article, from eyewitness history, tells how the assembly line impacted the world. It tells how all other major producers were forced to switch to assembly lines. This article also tells the story of how before the assembly line automobiles were just playthings for the rich. The article then goes on to describe how the order of assembly was determined, with the smaller, lightweight products, in the far back half of the factory, and the heavier materials near the front. Journal Article: http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/ford.htm | |
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