MASS PRODUCTION

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 59, Issue 4220, 6 December 1939, Page 5

MASS PRODUCTION

METHODS OF HENRY FORD. (Contributed.) The most complete description of Henry Ford’s factories in America was published by the American magazine “Mill and Factory” recently. This‘special edition was a masterpiece—a huge edition of 592 pages, with illustrations, charts, etc. I sent for a copy and am able to give here some of the remarkable facts it made known. They are as follows: The cost of setting up an average job in the Ford works in Detroit is £lBOl, divided into £402 for land and buildings, £534 for machinery, £733 for tools and maintenance and £132 for merchandise and supplies. About 40 per cent, of-the men employed are more than 40 years of age, and more than 8300 are over 50. The executives have no high-sound-ing job-titles. A young man sitting at a small desk in a corner may have no official title at all, but he may be receiving £2OOO a year. Every month many important new problems are attacked and new machines are invented. No workman performs an operation that can be performed by a machine. In 1937 189.5 hours of labour were required per motor car. At the highest point of production the output was 9000 cars a day and 110,000 men were employed. To make 1,000,000 cars requires the wood from 20,500 acres of forest, the wool from 801,000 sheep, the cotton from 433,125 acres, 14,000,000 lb of rubber, the leather from 30,000 cattle and 36 kinds of iron and steel alloys. The Ford factories in Detroit alone are now using, per month, 57,000 tons of iron ore, 165,000 tons of coal, 17,000 tons of limestone, 1,224,000 square feet of glass, 3,096,000 lb of cotton, 4,830,000 board fet of lumber, 3,960,000 lb of raw rubber and 54,000 tons of steel.

Last year more than £120,000 was spent for new air-conditioning equipment alone. The money spent on machine tools averages £1,000,000 a year.

As many as 6000 men have been employed at one time on machine, tool and die-making.

About 100,000 visitors from all parts of the world are shown through the Detroit works every year by 50 specially trained guides. Ford is decentralising. He now has 14 small factories within 50 miles of Detroit. Last year these factories produced £1,600,000 worth of parts and tools. They are all waterpowered. There are 10,000,000 square feet of floor space in the Ford factories. A crew of workers is kept constantly busy sweeping, cleaning, scrubbing and painting. About 16,000 gallons of paint are used every month. There are over 5000 welding operations. This requires the use of 600 welding machines in the pressed steel department alone. In one year, when £2,000,000 was invested in new machinery, 37,000 more workers were taken on and £15,000,000 more was paid in wages.