Henry Ford (1863-1947)Face of Automobile Innovation

Born on 30th July, 1863 in Michigan Left home in 1879 to work as an Apprentice machinist in

Detroit Returned to farm in 1882, became adept at operating portable

steam engine Became an engineer with Edison illuminating company in 1891

and then Chief engineer in 1893 Invented the “QUADRICYCLE” in 1896 which had a 2 cylinder

engine with 4 horsepower Met Edison in 1898 who encouraged him to go forward; found

Ford Motor Company in 1903

1896• Henr

y Ford builds his first vehicle – the Quadricycle – on a buggy frame with 4 bicycle wheels.

1908• Mod

el T is introduced. 15 million are produced through 1927.

1913• The

moving assembly line is introduced at Highland Park assembly plant, making Model T production 8 times faster.

1921• Ford

production exceeds 1 million cars per year, nearly 10 times more than Chevrolet - the next biggest selling brand.

1932• Ford

introduces the one-piece cast V8 block (Last innovation by Henry Ford)

1941• War

production begins: More than 2,82,000 GPs and 8,485 bombers were built, in 4 years.

1956• Ford

goes public with common stock shares

1962• Ford

Cortina – Conceptualised the station wagon for a family of four.

Timeline

Important Factors | Henry Ford’s Success

Curiosity Asking Questions Mechanical Ability

Willingness to take risks Perseverance

(Character Traits)

The Most Important Factor

• The ability to articulate a vision and convince other people to sign on and help him achieve that vision.

Important Factors | Henry Ford’s Success(Innovative Result)

Henry Ford convinced a group of businessmen to back him in the biggest risk of his life—a company to make horseless carriages.

Most of the commercial traffic in cities still moved in horse-drawn vehicles. Rural Americans simply accepted the limited travel radius of horse- or mule-drawn vehicles. For long distances, Americans used our extensive, well developed railroad network.

Important Factors | Henry Ford’s Success

When his workforce objected to the relentless, repetitive work that the line entailed, Ford responded with perhaps his boldest idea ever—he doubled wages to $5 per day. With that one move, he stabilized his workforce and gave it the ability to buy the very cars it made.

He hired a brilliant accountant named Norval Hawkins as his sales manager, and Hawkins created a sales organization and advertising campaign that fueled potential customers’ appetites for Fords. Model T sales rose steadily while the selling price dropped. By 1921, half the cars in America were Model Ts, and a new one could be had for as little as $415.

(Innovative Result)

93 Minutes

Seriously?

Reference

Article: “Henry Ford and Innovation - From The Curators” (thehenryford.org/education)

“Vision without Execution

is just Hallucination.”

Thank You!

Prepared By:

Group 11.) Arjun Parekh2.) Dheeraj Dabla3.) Karan Bakshi4.) Prashant Mathew5.) Sayantan Bose6.) Utkarsh Prasad