Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1913-04-24
HAWKINS GIVES SOME
VERY INTERESTING FACTS
Showing How the Ford Motor Co..
Turned Out 200, 900 Automobiles
in Twelve Months

At a meeting of the Adcraft club in
Detroit, Mich, last week, N. A. Haw-
kins, general sales manager of the Ford
Motor Co., gave an interesting talk on
what it means to manufacture 100000
complete motor cars in twelve months
His story, bristling with figures, was
full of the romance of business. Ten
years ago the company was capitalized
at $4,000 and did an annual business of
100000. Today it is the largest motor
car factory in the world; has capitaliza-
ton of s3O,OOO,OOO and sells annually
5000, 100000 worth of cars in all the
world.
1.-THE January sales of Ford cars
said Mr.. Hawkins, "were nearly 10000
900 for the month or more than twice
the gross receipts of the Grand Trunk
railway system for the same month. In
the last four months we did a business
of nearly $30,000,O00 and two of these
four months were not real good ones"
He further stated, 1.-THE Ford is an or.
ganiZation of young men, not an eXecu.
tive head has been added to a single
department of the business IN more
than six years, during which time the
output of cars and annual sales have
nearly doubled each year. We use
banks only as repositories to lock up
money and earn interest and this sea-
son IN planning production of 100000
cars, we never consulted a banker.
"We are at present employing in our
factories and at our branch houses
19,O61 men, all day workers, not a piece
worker in the plants, and discussing
nearly $4,000 a day for payrolls, every
day being pay day at the Ford factory.
no chance to do any bench work to
straighten out defects in any imperfect
parts. They must fit or go to the
scrap heap.
"To give an idea Of the economy of
production in a factory like the Ford,
just one model or chassis, and to con-
tinue building the same car for six
years, here are some of the figures and
items:
"We require for our 1913 output
100000, lamps 100000 wheels, 100000
tires, 10000 tor of steel, the hides of
100000 cattle to furnish leather for up
holstering the bodies, the hair or bris-
ties from 100000 hogs to stuff into
upholsterlng, 100000 hickory bil]ets
for wheel spokes and nearly 100000
square feet of glass for the windsh1elds.
Jan. IL last, we built and shipped
l 1886 finished model cts, a business
for one day amounting to 100000 and
requiring 200 freight cars to handle
shipments. In spite of our increased
facilities for producing, our daily orders
are in excess of our daily output, as
evidenced by the fact that in spite of
all the great shipments we have made
we still have on file for immediate at
t%ention 1895 orders or sufficient guam
tity to take US through to April 10, at
the rate of 1000 cars per day. 1t will
take $4,000 freight cars to move 1913
Ford output, which according to the
most authentic estimates of other car
makers, will be every other car that is
built in this country IN 1913.
After giving the aboye figures to The
Forum representative. G. F. Reynolds,
manager of the Fargo branch of the
} Ford Motor Co., added a few interest
ing figures bearing on Ford sales out
, of that city which would indicate that
I North Dakota was dong its share to-
5 ward marketing this tremendous vol.
:. umn. Mr.. Reynolds states that up to
March l, the local branch has delivered
902 cars since Oct. ], as against 222 in
the same time last year; that it has
LOO actual specified orders for delivery
this month and actual signed shipping
instructions for 2,793 to be delivered
before May Is.
Leaving the factory March 20, will
probably be the largest ~trainload oil
automobiles ever moved west of the
Mississippi river. 1t will contain fifty
carloads of seven automobiles each
t~otaling $50 automobiles to be divided
between Crookston, Grand Forks and
Minot. Fargoans will be given an op
p%ortunicy to see this train, inasmuch
as it will remain there the greater part
of a day.