Henry Ford

In 1913 Henry ford was faced with the situation of a very successful product design where demand far outstripped supply. His way of working was exactly the way most people worked.

Henry was forced to improve by circumstances outside of his control. Rather than a flash of genius Ford was pressed into action having been refused a loan from his bank to expand his factory to meet the massive order book he had amassed for the model T design.

He therefore had to start experimenting with ways of getting more from his existing resources. This desire is a necessary starting condition whatever your ‘business’ whether you are a hospital, car factory or fast food outlet you need a compelling reason for improvement. Some might call it the “burning platform” for change.

It is pretty certain that had Ford got that loan he may never had taken the path he did. Perhaps he would have just built a bigger factory and carried on with the craft style assembly technique.

Although the solution was not without issues such as worker boredom, repetition, inflexibility and huge capital investment, great strides were made in output.

This photo from inside highland park in 1917 shows how much Ford and his team had developed their ideas. All of the flow connected in sequence led to a totally heroic output.

Ultimately these basic ideas became the foundation of the industrial age and allowed low cost high quality consistent products to be available throughout the western world.