Essay, Research Paper: Ford Car Company

Ford Car Company
Essay submitted by Unknown

The first piece of material I gathered was a picture via the internet. This picture is of
the River Rouge assembly plant in Dearborn, Michigan. This picture shows the
manufacturing of the fender for a Ford Motor Company product. It also shows the
facilities of the Rouge plant and how the plant it self was state of the art.

This plant was the largest of its kind at the time of its construction. The Ford Motor
Company at the time was one of the leaders in labor relations. This picture shows the
size of the plant as well as the working conditions in the facility.

When viewing the photograph you can see the array of pipes and collection devices to
aid in the circulation of air and the collection of dust and other by products made in the
plant.

The next component I found is another picture of the interior of the Rouge plant. This
picture is one of many conveyer belts in the plant. This belt is moving engine parts from
the engine assembly to the final assembly. Henry Ford was a pioneer in the use of the
assembly line in the automobile industry, and the Rouge plant was the ultimate in that
use of the assembly line. This photo shows the depth of the plant, being able to
manufacture all components of the cars without having to ship parts to or from other
locations in the country.

The next collection of photographs is of the exterior of the Rouge plant. These photos
were obtained from the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. These pictures are
of the Rouge during the switch of all production, from the Highland Park plant, to the
Rouge. It was also the time that the Model A was beginning production.

This collection shows examples of four exterior views of the plant, allude to the many
different factories within the Rouge plant. The Rouge was a steel mill, a foundry, a
power producer and, an assembly line. This all encompassing idea helped ford relegate
all aspects of the production of their product.

Along with the exterior, the interior showed the extent of the all encompassing Rouge
plant. The interior photographs, which were also care of the Henry Ford Museum, show
more factories within the factory. For example, the four photos in this collection display
metal forming, and metallurgical operations. These pictures included forging, the blast
furnaces, removal of slag and, even salvaging scrap from metal ships.

The interior had two collections to view and the second reaffirmed what the first
portrayed. The second collection displays more metal working production including the
hydraulic shear, which was used for sheet metal, the open hearth ladle and the hearth
building. These photos gave an impressive direction of the inner workings of the Rouge
plant.

As said before the Rouge was the largest manufacturing complex in the nation when it
was built. An aerial photograph of the plant reaffirms that fact. The photo was taken in
1930 and you can see by the photo the plant is very impressive. The caption that
accompanies the picture gives an actual figure of the Rouge's square footage, the total
is 6,952,484 square feet.

Before the Rouge plant Ford's main manufacturing plant was Highland Park. The Rouge
and Highland Park were similar in the way of utilizing the assembly line to produce the
Ford product. Many collections of photos were found of the assembly line at Highland.
One collection shows the final mating of the model T, which is similar to the final mating
of the model A . Also the one day production of the Highland Park plant, which was
dwarfed by the Rouge one day production total.

The next collection of Highland Park photos displays the typical procedures in installing
components to the automobile. Each of the four pictures shows the installation to the
car. From the engine to the tires the same principles that were used at Highland Park
were used at the Rouge plant.

The final piece of material that was compiled through the search of the Internet and
other sources was the National Historic Landmark of Michigan web page. This page has
a link to an informational page on the Rouge plant. The plant is listed as a national
landmark since 1978 and a Michigan landmark since 1976. Also listed on the site is the
date the property was bought by Henry Ford and, the date all production was shifted
from Highland Park to the Rouge complex. A significant statement is given about the
Rouge on the marvel of its creation and the full integration of all aspects of automobile
manufacturing to achieve vertical integration and self sufficiency.

In conclusion the River Rouge manufacturing complex in Dearborn, Michigan was and is
one of the great marvels of the early twentieth century. Henry Ford was the man who
introduced the assembly line to the automobile industry and the Rouge was his
crowning achievement. The major Internet sites used for this compilation was the
Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village home page and, the National Historic
Landmark in Michigan home page