An American engineer, inventor, industrialist Henry Ford was born in July 1863. He became the pride of the United States automobile industry, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, the organizer of production and the designer of the conveyor complex.
Henry Ford's car was created as a work of art, there is nothing superfluous in it, its beauty is practical and functional. And this is not a luxury toy. This is a convenient, affordable gift made to the average American family by Henry Ford. The biography of this inventor and constructor is a worthy example for every person.
Merits
Legend of the adherents of the "American dream", Henry Ford did not invent a car or a conveyor at all, as many of his compatriots are sure of. The self-propelled cart was invented much earlier by a certain Ransom Olds, and belt conveyors have long been used in Chicago's elevators and meat processing plants.
Henry Ford is famous, whose biography over time acquires more and more fantastic details, in that he managed to create a stream in production. And the automobile business is also his idea, embodied by him in life. And most importantly - management. Economically organized enterprises need managers, and the twentieth century gave the world a creative businessman. The best businessman of the century, according to Fortune magazine!
He built the largest production that existed at that time, the real industry on which Ford earned his first billion (today this money "costs" thirty-six billion). The principles of its management still have a tremendous impact on the entire structure of US society. Ford managed to sell fifteen and a half million Ford Ts, and the production conveyor needed for production became more familiar than a bicycle on the street.
Opponent and creator of management
If he had not been an opponent of managerial principles, Henry Ford, his biography would not have been replenished with the title of best businessman. He had his own principles: the workers paid twice as much as the rest of the employers, sold them cars with significant discounts. In this way he created a class, still called the blue-collar class. He did not raise demand for his products. No! He created the conditions for such a demand.
This did not coincide with the principles of the current production policy. Management theory was created and formulated in Ford’s correspondence dispute with theorists who couldn’t defeat a noble automobile manufacturer, until a General Motors practice manager appeared who defeated Henry Ford in full-time dispute. So a successful Ford, whose biography is worthy of the pen of a Hollywood film scriptwriter, as an entrepreneur, crashed in 1927.
Only product is important
By this time, Henry could no longer change his beliefs. He really "starred", that is, he was absolutely sure of his own rightness. And new times have come, the change of which he did not even notice. Successful production now required management, and a new quality of management, Henry Ford could not understand this in time. His quotes on this subject are remarkable: "Gymnastics is nonsense. It is useless for healthy people, and it is contraindicated for sick people." He also applied to management.
Ford was sure: if the product is good, then it will certainly bring profit, and if it is bad, then the most wonderful management will not bring results. Ford despised the art of management, ran around the workshops, looked into his office only occasionally, financial documents seemed to him nauseous, he hated bankers, recognized only cash. For him financiers were thieves, speculators, pests and robbers, and shareholders were parasites. And so talented Henry Ford scattered quotes on this subject! Until now, grateful management uses them as an example of the loss of instinct in business. In any case, if he was not right, he was extremely honest with consumers.
Honest product
Henry Ford's remarks on this subject are relevant at all times: "Only work creates value!" - He did not get tired of repeating. So it was. Mass production at the plant did not begin until the model reached the ideal, absolutely universal, in Ford's view, state. Next, the production cycle is established, and the car is put on stream. Managers look at the overall output, Ford looks after them so that the departments work in concert with each other, and then the profit flows freely to the enterprise.
The head of the enterprise decided all the most important issues himself. Henry Ford's theory was this: the value of a market strategy lies in "penetration prices." The volume of production increases annually, costs are constantly reduced, car prices are regularly reduced - this is how stable profit growth is created, as demand is also growing. Profit is necessarily returned to production. While the principles of Henry Ford worked for commercial success, he was an individualist entrepreneur - he did not pay shareholders at all.
Core values
Here she is, the American dream: to be born, like Henry Ford, in a poor farming family, to get rich and become famous. Compatriots can forget who their president is today, but Henry Ford’s car will always be remembered. Ford served the idea, the one and only and his whole life, suffered absolute defeats, endured widespread ridicule, fought with sophisticated intrigues. But he achieved his goal: he created a car and earned billions.
Henry Ford's wife, Clara, was also one for life. She believed him unquestioningly, supported in difficult moments selflessly. He was somehow asked how he would have lived his life if he was given a second opportunity. Sayings of Henry Ford have always been worthy of a memorial: "I would agree, but with one condition: I will marry Clara again."
Start
In fact, Henry's life did not begin so easily. He was born on a farm in Michigan, where from an early age he was forced to help his father work in the field. He sincerely hated this occupation. He was attracted only by mechanisms. And the steam locomotive he saw at the age of twelve shocked the boy’s soul to the bottom. Thus began the story of Henry Ford.
Every day until late at night, Henry was tormented by the construction of a moving mechanism. He stopped looking like an ordinary boy: pockets full of nuts, instead of toys - tools. Parents presented the first watch in his life, which he dismantled on the same day and assembled as it was. From the age of fifteen I ran around the neighboring farms and repaired all any mechanisms, and so he did not finish school. subsequently, statements by Henry Ford on this subject did not change their worldview. He said that books do not teach anything practical, and the most important thing for a technician is the mechanism from which he, as a writer from books, will draw all the ideas and be able to apply them.
Steam locomobiles
Henry did not know the rest in work: he completely broke away from farm roots, worked in a mechanical workshop, and at night repaired watches, moonlighting with a jeweler. Since he already had an idea, and only a self-propelled crew carried away all his dreams, at the age of sixteen he got a job at Westinghouse Company as an expert in assembling and repairing locomobiles. These heavy-duty monsters of the automotive industry did 12 miles per hour and were most often used as a tractor. The roads of locomobiles were so great that not every farmer could buy such a car.
The first company of Henry Ford, although it was not his brainchild, gave him the opportunity to grow in the profession, gain ideas and try to implement them. The first attempt was the creation of a lightweight steam trolley for plowing. Henry remembered his father, that his father’s dream of an assistant son had fallen, and his conscience, of course, troubled him. Therefore, he wanted to quickly alleviate the harsh share of farmers, shift the main work from his father's shoulders to an iron horse.
New engine design
A tractor is not a mass product. People want a car that you can drive on the road, not a fixture for field work. However, the cart assembled by Henry was dangerous: it was more convenient to sit on a bomb than on a boiler under high pressure. Young Ford studied boilers of all designs and realized that the future was not theirs, that a light crew with a steam engine was impossible. Hearing about gas engines, Ford was filled with new hopes.
Smart people listened with interest, but absolutely did not believe in Henry Ford's success in this matter. He did not meet a single acquaintance of educated people who would understand that the future of humanity is behind the internal combustion engine. From that moment on, he neglected all the advice of the “wise men”. This engine was designed by Henry Ford in 1887. To do this, he had to disassemble the gas engine of Philip Lebon and understand what was happening, then return to the farm to experiment there.
Engineer and mechanic
The father was delighted with the return of his son and gave him a piece of wood so that he would just stop poking around in the glands. Henry Ford, slightly crafty, agreed, built a house, a sawmill, a workshop and married Clara. Naturally, he spent all his free time in the workshop, read books on mechanics, designed.
Since it was impossible to advance alone on the farm, he moved to Detroit, where he was offered a salary of $ 45 at an electric company. Clara always supported her husband in all his endeavors.
He did not find sympathy with his new colleagues about his throwings, because they were sure that absolutely the future of the planet was behind electricity, but Thomas Edison, the “father of electricity”, became interested, treated with understanding and wished him luck. Henry Ford was inspired indescribably.
America's first driver
When in 1893 Henry Ford drove around Detroit in his first car with an internal combustion engine, which he called an ATV, the horses shied away, passersby were amazed by loud rumble, surrounded, questioned. There were no traffic rules yet, so I had to get permission from the police. So he became the first officially approved driver of America.
Riding for three years, Henry sold the first brainchild for two hundred dollars and put them into the creation of a new model of a lighter car. For some reason, he then believed that heavy cars were not needed. Ah, if he now looked at the brainchild of his company - Ford Expedition, then he would definitely change his mind. However, then he believed that the mass product is easy and affordable.
By that time, he had been made the first engineer in the electric company, they paid 125 dollars a month, but the automotive industry’s experiments aroused indignation. It believed only in electricity. In the gas - no. The company offered Henry Ford an even higher post, but just let him give up this nonsense and get down to business. Ford thought and chose his dream.
Racing car
Quickly found partners who invested in the newly created Detroit Automobile Company for the production of racing cars. Henry Ford could not defend the idea of mass production. Companions needed money, they simply did not see another use of a car. True, this enterprise did not bring big money to anyone. In 1902, he left the company so that he would never again be in a dependent position. "All by myself!" Henry Ford told himself. Achievements were on the way.
Ford never put speed on the merits of a car, but since public attention could only be attracted by victory, he still had to prepare two cars designed for high speed. “It is impossible to give a more unreliable guarantee!” He said to himself. “It is possible to fall from Niagara Falls with a large percentage of luck.”
But the cars were ready for the race. There was only a driver. A cyclist by the name of Oldfield, who was looking for thrills, agreed with the breeze. But he never sat behind the wheel of a car. There was a week before the races. The cyclist did not disappoint. Moreover, he never looked around, did not turn around and did not slow down when cornering: he “drowned” the pedal all the way to the start and did not reduce the speed to the finish line. Ford's car came first. Investors became interested, about a week later the company was founded, Ford's main brainchild is Ford Motor.
Car for everyone
Henry Ford organized his own enterprise according to his own plan. The priority was a reliable product, easy to manage, cheap, lightweight, mass. Ford did not want to work for the rich, but wanted to make all his compatriots happy. No luxury, the most simple and functional finish. And the prestige of the brand also did not matter. Even his models did not have beautiful names; he called each new one the next letter of the alphabet.
Ford followed three basic financial principles: he didn’t take other people's capital, he bought everything exclusively for cash, and all the profit went into production. Dividends rely only on those who are involved in creating the product. All efforts, all efforts Ford directed to the creation of a universal car. She became a model with the letter "T". The previous ones also sold quite well, but, in comparison with the T, they seemed just experimental. Now the advertisement could rightly read: "Every child will be able to drive a Ford!"
Perfect creation
In 1909, Henry Ford announced that he would now produce only the T model with the same chassis. And, as always, he made this statement witty: - "Everyone can buy a Ford-T of absolutely any color, but provided that any color is black."
To understand the scale of the event the head of the company started, and started with an absolute belief in success, it is necessary to imagine that a certain person created the company to provide each of us with cheap and convenient airplanes. Such in those days was related to buying a car.
The car had to be quite roomy so that the whole family could comfortably settle in. Henry Ford was also worried about the choice of material, which should be the best. The design should be as simple as possible in today's technology, he thought. And he always had first-class workers.
Ford said that the price of the car would be so low that any working person would be able to purchase it. Here, in these very words, many ceased to believe him. Factory cans! - opponents shouted to him. And the T model was called the Lizzie Tin. It would seem that it makes no difference what dogs bark about. Anyway, the caravan is on its way. But to sell a lot, low prices will not help. Need to convince of quality.
