This booklet was handed out to visitors to the then-new Ford Highland Park Plant. It describes the various operations of the factory and gives some details on certain operations. The text is not entirely accurate but seems to be what Ford wanted people to know. For example:
Henry Ford was not the president of the company in 1903. He was vice-president at the time (with several other titles as well). John Gray was president.
The text notes that there will never be any labor problems at the Ford plant because of the high pay and comfortable working conditions. In fact there was considerable turnover in workmen due to the harsh working condtions. Their pay in 1912 was typical of the industry. It wasn't until 1914 that Ford introduced the eight-hour, five dollar day.
However, it makes interesting reading. Enjoy.
EVERY BOOK Which is written with a definite object in
View, is far more interesting and valuable if its purpose is clearly understood before
you read it. This is not a catalogue---it is, rather, in the nature of a souvenir
volume, a profusely illustrated trip through the great Ford plant, that you may see
and be convinced that the Ford automobile is both the best and the most
economically made car in the world. | |||
4 | 5 | ||
Pride in the knowledge that Ford success is honestly deserved will
never lessen our profound appreciation of the people’s constant faith in theFord car
and its builders, of their steady encouragement and their magnificent patronage,
representing, as it does, the investment of over sixty millions of dollars in Ford
cars since this Company was organized.
|
On June 16, 1903, the Ford Motor Company was organized with
a capital of $100,000. Henry Ford represented the Company as President, General
Superintendent, Engineer and Designer. James Couzens assumed the responsibilities of
Secretary and Treasurer, Cashier, Office Manager and Sales Manager. The office force
consisted of one one-armed stenographer. The factory was a one-story frame building
on Mack Avenue. | ||
6 | 7 | ||
"The first factory of the Ford Motor Company, Mack Avenue, Detroit"
In the beginning, therefore, the founders of the Ford Motor Company received little
if any encouragement from the public; on the contrary, they found the people only
mildly interested, decidedly skeptical, and many openly antagonistic to what seemed
to them a menace to life and limb. This attitude will not seem unreasonable if we
remember that the prototypes of the beautiful, noiseless, luxurious motor cars of t
oday were far from attractive in appearance, anything but noiseless, slow and
uncertain of gait, bad smelling, and apparently liable to explode or run amuck at any
moment. |
"The second home of the Ford---outgrown in six years---Piquette and Beaubien, Detroit" We need seek no further for the secret of Ford success; the same men who began this struggle for recognition and achievement, and the same policies which governed their first efforts, still continue to guide and control the tremendous organization which now supplies the world with Ford Motor Cars. | ||
8 | 9 | ||
An addition to the first little factory on Mack Avenue became necessary within a year,
and as business steadily increased, the need of greater facilities became urgent. At the
end of a year and a half the Ford Motor Company moved into a splendid new plant on
Piquette Avenue, at that time one of the finest, best equipped automobile factories in
the country. The manufacturing possibilities of this new establishment seemed adequate
to supply any possible demand for Ford cars for several decades to come. |
A trip through the great Ford plant
The decoration at the head of this page is a picture of our front door, the main
entrance to the Administration Building. Here our guests enter, and here let us welcome
you, with the genuine hope that at some time not far distant, this imaginary reception
may be followed by a real one and that we may greet you with a cordial hand clasp, and
a hearty "Come right in." | ||
10 | 11 | ||
MAGNIFICENT FOYER of the Administration Building. Here all visitors receive prompt and courteous attention Before we enter upon our descriptive tour of the big Ford plant, let us again call your attention to the illustrations which acornpany the text. If you will study the pictures as you follow the story from page to page, you will find it very easy to imagine that you are in reality on a sight—seeing trip through the home of Ford Model T. The photographs lend realism to our comments and descriptions, and furthermore, if we appear to be drawing the long bow in some of our statements, any doubts of their absolute accuracy will be dispelled by the pictures. The photographs are arranged in consecutive order to conform to the text, but it has been impractical to place them, in every instance, above the descriptive matter they illustrate; the page number of each picture is therefore inserted that you may refer to it readily. |
  | A STUDY IN PERSPECTIVE---Main corridor, on second floor, 300 feet long. Its glass partitions admit perfect light to all the offices. The Administration Building
The Administration Building stands in the center of a vast sweep of lawn which stretches
a thousand feet along Woodward Avenue, Detroit’s finest street. It is separated by a
driveway from the factory proper and at the same time is joined to it by a glass—enclosed
bridge at the second floor. It is a superb structure, two stories in height and basement,
300 feet long and 60 feet deep. The exterior is of red brick and cut stone, harmonizing
in design and materials with the other splendid buildings which flank it on three sides.
(pp.32, 33) | |
12 | 13 | ||
A CORNER of the big room occupied by the Manufacturing, Time-keeping and Stock Departments. A splendid example of modern office equipment.
The southern half of the lower floor is divided into offices for other important
departments, including Repairs, Parts, Claims, Traffic (p. 15) and Engineering. The
latter is especially important as its duties include the furnishing of designs and
specifications for the construction of buildings, power plant and equipment. |
Across the corridor from the private office is a room which theoretically may perhaps be
considered the most important of all. Here Mr. Ford is usually found, deep in some
mechanical problem. The ideas which originate here, when developed and perfected, are
steadily revolutionizing the motor car industry. The Ford car is being constantly
refined and its price reduced; others must do likewise or he denied recognition. | ||
14 | 15 | ||
STENOGRAPHIC and Follow-up Departments. Expert operators and a perfect system handle effectively the immense daily correspondence.
Next comes the Directors' room (p. 19)) a splendid rug of superb coloring, massive oak
furniture, and beautiful fixtures and decorations are all in perfect harmony. Mr.
Couzens' private office occupies the southwest corner of the building and equals Mr.
Ford’s in its harmonious appointments. |
FILING DEPARTMENT---The thousands of letters and records of all kinds are so indexed that any item may be located instantly. In the basement of the Administration Building are two immense fans which draw in the fresh air from the outside, through a screen of water, composed of thousands of fine sprays, which cleans it thoroughly, and thence it passes into a huge heater (p.20). This automatically keeps the temperature throughout the building at 70 degrees, as the air from the heater, now pure and of the exact temperature and humidity required, is forced through great ventilating pipes all over the entire building, being admitted to each room through ornamental registers in the walls, thus doing away with the unsightly steam or hot water radiators commonly used. These conditions not only mean health and comfort, but have a most beneficial effect upon the executives and all the office people who must of necessity work indoors. All dust and dirt is effectively removed by the Tuec vacuum cleaning system. | ||
16 | 17 | ||
COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT---Of paramount importance, as Ford sales are dependent upon its efficiency. Its activities cover the world.
An almost continuous row of windows admits the light from all sides and glass office
partitions offer no obstruction, resulting in a soft, diffused light throughout. An
ample number of electric fixtures of beautiful design supply artificial light when
required. The best of modern furniture harmonizes with the natural oak woodwork and
everything from the handsome tile and rug covered floors to the ceiling is always
spotlessly clean. |
DIRECTORS’ ROOM---Spacious, dignified, and every detail of its superb furniture and decorations are in perfect harmony.
How the Tremendous Motive Power is
We'll show you first how the energy in that train load of coal just backing in on the
siding will be converted into the electricity that supplies the entire plant with power
and light. Therefore, let us take a short cut through the north end of the factory to
the big Gas Producers, which are something new to most of our visitors and therefore
of unusual interest. | ||
18 | 19 | ||
HUGE VENTILATING FAN---Two of these supply fresh air, purified through a water pray and heated to a uniform temperature, to each room.
The two big cylinders in the center of the picture (p.21) are the producers in which
the gas is generated. The process is comparatively simple. A coal fire is built in
the bottom of the producer, just as you build one in your parlor stove, but here the
similarity ceases. When the fire is under good headway, the massive lid is covered
with two inches of water to keep it cool. The huge steel saucer under the producer is
also filled with water, which covers the lower rim of the latter, but does not reach
to the fire within, which rests on a bed of ashes. |
MAKING THE FUEL GAS for the great engine in the power building. The capacity of these huge tanks would supply the needs of a small city.
Fresh coal is supplied from the top at regular intervals by means of a charging
chamber that allows no air to get in nor gas to escape, and as the producer is
started revolving slowly, this motion together with an automatic device inside,
thoroughly stirs and mixes the fire. |
||
20 | 21 | ||
POWER BUILDING---A mammoth glass case with windows from floor to ceiling. Floor and walls are of tile and everything is kept spotlessly clean. We will now follow the big 24—inch gas main to the power house
(p.22). The building which houses the power plant is in reality a giant glass case
with windows on all four sides from floor to ceiling. The interior is one big, square
room, its floor and walls of tile (p.23). Immaculate cleanliness prevails throughout.
A traveling crane, capable of lifting 25 tons, spans the room from wall to wall, and
is indispensable for raising any of the huge parts of the engine or generator which
may require repairs. |
ENGINE ROOM---At the right is the great engine, then its 40 ton flywheel, the generator, air compressor and the switchboard.
As it was designed expressly for the Ford plant, there is no other engine exactly
like it, and this fact makes it doubly interesting, even to engineers of wide
experience. It is known as a four—cycle, double acting tandem type, and develops
fifteen hundred horsepower. It has the largest cylinders of any engine operated by
producer gas, and as another Ford engine, similar in design, but of five thousand
horsepower, is now in process of construction, the Ford factory will soon have the
distinction of operating the largest gas engine in the world, of any type. | ||
22 | 23 | ||
THE GIANT GAS ENGINE---Although of 1500 h.p., it’s inadequate for the immense plant and another of 5000 h.p. is nearing completion.
Forty-five gallons of oil are needed to lubricate the main bearings every hour.
This oil is circulating continually through a system of tubes, draining it from the
various hearings, black and dirty, into a filter below the engine, where it is cleaned
and forced back to do its duty over again. |
THE NEW GENERATOR nearing completion. 2500 K. W., 25% overload, diameter of frame 20 feet. The largest 240 volt dynamo ever built.
The new engine now building will be magnificent in its proportions. Of the twin-tandem,
double acting type, it will be 73 feet long and 32 feet wide. Each of its four
cylinders will be 42 x 72 inches. The crankshaft will be 32 inches in diameter, 25
feet long, and will support an 80-ton flywheel; her connecting rods will weigh
10,300 lbs. each. Truly a titanic machine. | ||
23 | 24 | ||
THE GREAT FOUNDRY'S main room. Three hundred cylinder moulds ready for the molten iron. Fans remove all dust and smoke.
Suppose we are at the south end of the big machine shop, watching a boring mill drilling
holes in an engine frame. A small electric motor, mounted on the frame of the boring mill
and driving it, receives its current front two small wires which may be traced to their
connection with larger cables on the ceiling. These in turn tap off from still larger ones
perhaps two hundred feet away, and, if we persevere, we can trace each set, continually
growing larger, until we are finally back to the switchboard in the engine room. Then it's a
simple matter to follow the big conductors to the generator, to see that it is dependent
upon the big engine, that the engine is powerless without the gas from the producer, and thus
we are back to the coal which makes the gas. |
MOULDS receiving the finishing touches. Their interiors are dusted with graphite, insuring smooth, clean surfaces on all Ford castings.
To avoid confusing you with too many details we have considered the compressed air
system as a separate unit, which in fact it is, except that it also depends upon the
big gas engine for its power. In the picture on page 23 you will see the big compressor
at the left, opposite the engine. Its capacity is 2,000 cubic feet and its duty is
to supply air under heavy pressure, to all parts of the plant for operating pneumatic
tools of various kinds, hammers, drills, riveters, blowers and sand blasts for cleaning
castings. | ||
26 | 27 | ||
CORE ROOM---The cores are made of adhesive sand, baked hard and are used to form the "holes" in hollow castings. The Underground Tunnel
Original ideas are to be found upon every hand at the Ford plant. The big gas main
which supplies fuel to the engine, the electric cables, water pipes and those for
compressed air, are all carried underground in cement tunnels.
Now that we have seen how the power which drives all these countless machines is produced and applied, we are ready for a demonstration of the greatest of all manufacturing problems---the production of an article of superior quality, most economically---and let us add, that high quality and low cost have never been combined more successfully than in the Ford car. |
THE TYPE OF FURNACE used in the Heat Treating and Carbonizing Departments. Heated by two blazing jets of oil.
We have said that we would show you how a Model T motor car is made, but in reality
you will see 250 Ford cars being built simultaneously as this is the average daily
output of the plant. As the manufacture of each part of the Ford car must start with
the raw material, and as the Model T is principally built of steel and iron, we will
first visit the foundry where the pig iron is made into Ford castings. | ||
28 | 29 | ||
THE CRANEWAY, where incoming material is stored temporarily. Visitors never tire of watching the powerful electric crane at work.
It does not seem possible that a foundry can be neat, clean and orderly, but this is
one of the exceptions. An extremely effective system of exhaust fans removes all the
dust and smoke, which explains why it was possible to take such sharp, clear interior
photographs. |
CRANE AT WORK—The ponderous screw machine suspended above the cars, weighs two tons. The crane has just raised it from the platform.
The lurid glare from the ladles and the dazzling, scintillating blaze from the
furnaces, the roar and hiss of steam and cooling iron, and the shouts of the men,
convince the onlooker that some one will be fearfully burned in the confusion. But
nobody gets in the way of anyone else, every man is calmly doing his allotted work,
and although everyone is hurrying to the utmost, there is no confusion. | ||
30 | 31 | ||
A PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE FORD MOTOR COMPANY’S MAGNIFICENT NEW HOME The Administration Building in the Center---the Great Factory Buildings Behind it---and the Power Building at the Left. | |||
A careful look at the picture of the core room (p.28) will afford a clear idea of the work in this department. The cores are made of sand, moistened with a sticky substance, and when baked are almost as hard as iron. They are used in the making of hollow castings, in fact represent the "holes" in them and crumble up and are knocked out of the finished castings, leaving the cavity the exact shape of the core.
|
The percentage of loss in most foundries from imperfect castings is a serious one, but although a gas engine casting for a motor car is extremely complicated and difficult to make, the Ford foundry is so perfectly equipped for the work, is in charge of such competent men, and the workmen are so skilled in their duties, that the number of bad castings is very small indeed. The next logical step will be a visit to the Heat Treating Plant, as the unfinished steel parts and forgings must first be tempered before they go to the machine shop along with the castings.
The importance of the Heat Treating Plant will be better understood when we explain briefly the remarkable work it accomplishes. Just as an excellent batch of bread may be spoiled in the baking, either underdone or baked to a crisp, so a forging of splendid steel may be improperly tempered and ruined for the special purpose for which it was intended.
HEAT TREATING DEPARTMENT'S new buildings; first section completed. Note the long battery of furnaces. | ||
32 | 33 | ||
HUNDREDS OF TONS of Ford parts on their way to the assembling departments. The view is across the south end of the machine shop.
The fame of Ford Vanadium steel is hardly less than that of the Ford car itself, as no
one can be familiar with the latter without knowing that its marvelous strength of
construction is principally due to the Vanadium steel of which all of its metal parts
are made that are subject to stress. |
THE GREAT MACHINE SHOP---A view down the main aisle, it is 840 feet to the far end. The most unusual and impressive sight at the plant.
First a special steel is made for each, the formula for making the spring steel varying
materially from the other two, especially in the amount of Vanadium introduced then the
three batches of steel go to the heat treating plant and each is tempered under distinctly
different formulas. This explains why each steel part of the Ford car is exactly adapted
for its particular duty. | ||
34 | 35 | ||
ASSEMBLING AND TESTING Ford motors. The most important unit of the car, they are put together as carefully and perfectly as a watch.
Long rows of big ovens, or furnaces (p.29), form the principal equipment of the heat
treating plant. Their fuel is crude oil sprayed in from horizontal jets by powerful
air pressure, and, when required, a temperature of incredible intensity can be produced. |
A MONSTER MILLING MACHINE, milling 12 cylinder castings at one operation. The massive cutters eat through the solid iron as if it were cheese.
Steel for one purpose must be cooled quickly, for another, slowly; one is quenched in
a special solution, another in oil, and various other baths are used for the special
needs of other steels. If required, the workman can take a bar of steel, heat it and
cool it, and make it nearly as brittle as a rod of glass, snapping with the least
bending strain, or he can temper this same bar so that it may be twisted and bent as
readily as a lead pipe, and this heating and cooling process has been worked out to such
a definite science that the operator can temper this bar to any intermediate degree
between the brittleness of glass and the flexibility of lead-pipe. | ||
36 | 37 | ||
A BATTERY OF DRILLS---Each bores eight holes simultaneously, obtaining both absolute precision and great economy in time and labor.
The same perfection applies to all the various Ford parts. There would be a tremendous
manufacturing economy if one good grade of carbon steel were used for all of them and
the one simple tempering process employed, that is generally considered sufficient, but
in so doing, the wonderful strength, light weight and enduring qualities of Ford
construction, which have been such a vital feature in Ford success, would be sacrificed. |
A CHARACTERISTIC PICTURE OF MR. FORD Discussing a mechanical problem in the Experimental Room. Mr. Ford at the right. Forge Room and Carbonizing Department
The Carbonizing Department, which occupies the east end of the big Forge Room, is still
another process for perfecting the steel in Ford parts. Carbon is an important element
in nearly all steel and the work that each part has to perform determines the amount
of carbon that its steel must contain. The more carbon that is introduced in a piece of
steel the harder it may be tempered. |
||
38 | 39 | ||
TOOL ROOM—This big shop is employed solely in making tools, jigs, dies and special parts for the mammoth machine shop.
The fierce heat reduces the carbon to a gas which gradually penetrates the steel gears,
just as a stain enters the pores of a hoard, and the important feature of this process
is to withdraw the parts from the oven at the proper moment before the carbon has gone
too deeply into the steel. When the gears are tempered their surface is sufficiently
hard to withstand the extreme grind and wear, without the brittleness which would result
if they had been carbonized equally throughout. The cost of operating the Carbonizing
Department for twelve months is a big item, but it saves the Ford owner many a stripped
gear or other broken part. |
PATTERN SHOP that furnishes the wood patterns from which the foundry makes its castings. Note the individual motors for each machine. Craneway
The forge room stands out at right angles from the craneway, an immense brick, steel
and glass shed, and, as a pleasant respite from the heat and noise which have been very
much in evidence in the foregoing departments, we will go up to the north end of the
craneway and devote a few moments to watching the big crane at work. | ||
40 | 41 | ||
TOOL DRAFTING ROOM---Devoted solely to designing, and furnishing plans and specifications for special Ford tools and machinery.
When the crane has a busy day, you will frequently see it performing three different
operations at once. The hoisting motor, which you will see in the picture now resting in
the center of the crane, can be run back and forth toward either wall; therefore, when
a load has been lifted clear of the floor, the operator can start the crane down the
shed, while the hoisting motor continues to raise its load, and is itself moving toward
one end of the crane. This all saves time, as when the crane is stopped, its load is
suspended directly over the spot it is to occupy and needs only to be lowered. |
A SECTION of the General Drafting Room where the working drawings of Ford parts are made for the manufacturing departments. Machine Shop
Now then, as we are impatient to show you the great machine shop, the largest and most
important department of all, we will walk down the length of the craneway and into the
machine shop from the south end. We have included quite a number of views of this
department as no printed explanation will give you an adequate idea of its immensity,
nor of the wonderful machinery which it contains. | ||
42 | 43 | ||
SHIPPING DEPARTMENT, where parts, accessories, supplies for dealers, etc., are packed and boxed for shipment.
Apparently you are looking into a hopeless tangle of machinery, shafting and belts.
It seems incredible that a thousand men are working calmly and effectively among this
maze of whirring, groaning, grinding wheels and gears, but as you walk along the main
aisle and study each section carefully, the impression of confusion is dispelled and
is replaced by amazement at the perfect system that prevails.
| ASSEMBLING ROOM NO. 1---Here the bare chassis frames receive their preliminary equipment of fender irons, springs, brake levers, etc.
An absolute system determines its progress. It goes direct to the first machine, then
to the second, the third, and so on to the ninth, with no superfluous handling, no
delays. This economy in handling the work is clue to the manner in which the shop has
been laid out, and is a splendid tribute to the ability and experience of the men
responsible for it.
| ||
44 | 45 | ||
ASSEMBLING ROOM NO. 2---Perfect workmanship and the exact uniformity of all parts explain the rapidity and precision in assembling.
Thus are brought into use the grinding and polishing machines, planers, lathes, shapers,
milling machines, boring mills, machines for punching, drilling and shearing, machines
that make screws and bolts, and others that cut threads in the holes that receive them.
In fact, somewhere in this vast room will be found the latest model of almost every type
of metal working machinery.
| FORD MOTORS---A day's output. Every day adds to their victories on the speedway, in hill climbing contests and endurance trials.
One monster boring mill machines the interiors of the four cylinders in each engine
casting at one operation, securing absolute uniformity and alignment in the four bores.
An equally ponderous machine accommodates twelve cylinder castings on its massive bed
and mills their bottoms to a perfect surface at one operation (p.37).
| ||
46 | 47 | ||
RADIATOR DEPARTMENT---Three hundred men are needed to make Ford radiators as fast as they are required---250 per day.
Everything moves with wonderful precision, every detail having been worked out to fit
in perfectly with all others, with the result that this immense shop suffers no loss
or waste whatever because it is big and complex, but to the contrary, it is so perfectly
organized, that Ford parts represent a higher quality of material and workmanship and a
lower manufacturing cost than those of any other automobile. |
INGENIOUS MACHINE in the radiator department. It is typical of Ford methods, doing the work of ten men by the pressure of a lever.
The Ford policy of standardizing every part of the Model T is of fundamental importance.
All Ford crankshafts, for example, are absolutely identical. You might travel round the
world in a Model T and exchange crankshafts with any other Model T you met enroute, and
both engines would work as perfectly after the exchange as before. The finest of
materials---such as Ford vanadium steel---the finest workmanship, and infinite care,
are necessary that such a statement can be made and verified. | ||
48 | 49 | ||
TINNING RADIATOR PARTS---Making them rust proof, leak proof and generally dependable for a long term of years.
If we are to visit the other departments and follow the building of the Model T, step by
step, until it is ready for the final shipping tag---a perfect car---we must end our tour
of the machine shop abruptly (although reluctantly, as it is the heart of the great Ford
plant, and turn to the next chapter in Ford construction. |
VARNISHING FORD WHEELS---Each machine varnishes two wheels per minute---1200 daily---and more perfectly than by hand.
One section of the Experimental Room is shown on page 39. Its equipment includes many
extremely delicate and complicated machines and special apparatus for making and testing
all kinds of electrical and mechanical devices, which are considered worthy of
investigation in the constant effort to improve the Ford car. | ||
50 | 51 | ||
A THOUSAND Ford bodies, formed out of pressed sheet steel. It looks like a year’s supply but they will all be used up in three days.
This means that the Ford Motor Company bears the expense of its experimental work, not
the Ford owner, and every new feature that is added to the Ford Model T is always
advantageous, never detrimental. |
EQUIPPING THE BODIES with upholstery, cushions, tops, water tanks and fittings. It’s always just as clean and orderly as it looks now.
This floor of the south building is also occupied by the two big drafting rooms,
classified as Tools (p.42) and General (p.43). The first supplies the plans and
specifications for all the special tools and the latter makes the drawings and blue
prints of Ford parts for the manufacturing departments. The most modern apparatus is
employed for making the blue prints and the volume of work turned out is only equaled
in the largest architects' offices. | ||
52 | 53 | ||
LACQUERING FENDERS, hoods, fuel tanks and other parts. Each is dipped in a big vat, hung up to drip and then baked hard and glossy.
Three big rooms, each 285 feet long, comprise the Assembling Department, where the
products of practically all other departments converge for assembling. As we enter the
north end of the first room (p.45), we are confronted with a huge pile of chassis frames,
absolutely free of all attachments. The first operation is the fastening on of the brace
rods for the fenders, with a pneumatic riveter, one of the hundreds of air pressure tools
operated by the big air compressor in the power house. |
A CORNER IN TIRES---Three hundred thousand tires will be used to equip Ford Model T's in 1912.
The south end of the craneway makes an ideal testing room, with its abundance of light
and smooth cement floor, and the photograph (p.60) shows eighty brand new Model T's,
receiving their final grooming. Each is also given a last trial spin, before it is sent
out into the world to uphold the honor and prestige of the name it bears. It may find a
home in Detroit, in the jungles of India, or in frozen Siberia, but wherever it goes, it
is sure to be a credit to its makers. | ||
54 | 55 | ||
FORD STOCK ROOMS require several acres of floor space. In this room are stored thousands of windshields and steering wheels.
We will not attempt a description of the Radiator Department on the second floor, as it
would require several hours to go through it properly, and gather a clear idea of how
the noted Ford radiator is made. We must be content with a careful look at the pictures,
one of the main room (p.48), an excellent cut (p.49) of the big machine which forces 95
quarter-inch tubes through 74 copper fins at one operation, and the Tinning and Soldering
Room (p.50).
| SOME ROOF---The glass saw tooth roof is over the machine shop; the craneway at the right.
A little arithmetic will suffice to show the demands which must be met by the department
which paints and varnishes Ford wheels. Over 35,000 Model T's were made and sold in 1911,
which multiplied by four makes the total number of wheels handled by this department for
last year 140,000. As arrangements are perfected to build 75,000 Ford cars in 1912, it
will require 300,000 wheels for the coming year's output.
| ||
56 | 57 | ||
LOOKING SOUTH---Most of the houses you can see over the roof of the craneway are the homes of Ford people.
The room beyond (p.53) supplies them with tops, trimmings, tanks, etc., and then they
too, go down on the big elevators to be mounted on their chassis. Another big room (p.54)
takes care of the lacquering of hoods, fenders, fuel tanks and other trimmings. A fender
is dipped in a big vat, hung up to drip, and then is placed in a huge oven, which bakes
the lacquer to a hard glossy surface.
| THE FORD PLANT IS GROWING---Monster new shop nearing completion. Designed by Ford engineers. 750 x315 feet.
As you stand at the southwest corner of the vast expanse of roof (p.57), the panorama
which spreads out to the north and east is an imposing one. The flag pole on the north
end of the main building, is one-sixth of a mile away. The immense glass roof, of saw-tooth
construction, is over the machine shop, and affords perfect light and ventilation for
the men below.
| ||
58 | 59 | ||
EIGHTY MODEL T’s receiving their final test. The rear wheels are jacked up and the engine and all working parts are given a thorough trial.
Over the craneway you can make out the new shipping platform, 500 feet long, and the
structure to the left, in process of construction, will be another immense shop 750 feet
long and 315 feet wide. When completed, the walls of the craneway will be removed and
then the present machine shop, craneway and the new shop will form one enormous room.
The same system of heating and ventilating now used in the Administration Building,
which we have described on page 17, and which is superior to all other methods, will
be installed, which will make this the largest and most perfectly equipped machine shop
under one roof in this country, undoubtedly the world's greatest workshop. We have been
able to include, at the last moment, a picture of the new shop (p.59), nearing
completion, and one of the immense loading platform, just finished (p.61). |
THE GREAT SHIPPING PLATFORM, 500 feet long. 185 Model T’s ready to be loaded. 100 miles of freight cars will be needed for 1912.
While we are enjoying this magnificent view, together with the warm sun and clear air,
and the relief from the roar of the machinery in the shops beneath us, let us tell you
about the men who work here, what they do, and what is done for them, that you may know
why there has never been and never will be any serious labor troubles at the Ford plant.
| ||
60 | 61 | ||
THE TIME CLOCKS with which the men register their time to and from work. Each stamps his individual card and racks it "In" or "Out."
Ford employees work 12 months in every year. There are no periods when the plant is
closed down for lack of work, for stock taking, or for any other causes, which means
that a competent workman is assured steady employment the year round. |
AN INSPIRING SIGHT—The army of Ford employees. A splendid body of workmen, healthy, happy, competent and well paid.
Many of the workmen are buying modern little homes, in the attractive suburbs surrounding
the Ford plant, which is just north of one of the finest residential sections of Detroit.
| ||
62 | 63 | ||
In addition to the great Detroit plant, the Ford Motor Company maintains five other Branch Factories or assembling Plants, at Walkerville, Ont., Kansas City, Mo., Cambridge, Mass., Long Island City, N.Y., and Manchester, England.
BRANCH OFFICES |
Atlanta | Detroit | Los Angeles | Philadelphia | |
Boston | Fargo | Louisville | Pittsburgh | |
Buffalo | Hamburg | Manchester | St. Louis | |
Cambridge | Hamilton, Ont. | Melbourne | San Francisco | |
Chicago | Houston | Memphis | Seattle | |
Cincinnati | Indianapolis | Montreal | Toronto | |
Cleveland | Kansas City | New York | Vancouver | |
Dallas | London | Omaha | Walkerville | |
Denver | Long Island City | Paris | Winnipeg | |
Large Distributors and Dealers in all other Principal Cities |