The Gem worker and the Idaho labor herald. (Boise, Idaho) 1914-1917, 1915-01-07
THE FORD MOTOR
COMPANY'S PLANT
Experiment in Benevolent Feudalism" Has
Left the Workers Absolutely Dependent :
Afarid To Complain

Perhaps the thing that strikes the
visitor most at the Ford Motor Com
pany plant is the immensity Of it all.
Not to mention the other huge de-
partments, the machine shop alone
covers ten acres, all in one open room.
In this vast room there are thous-
ands OF machines of infinite charact-
er. They are manned by veritable
army of workers. who to save space,
are often huddled so close they can
hardly move from their work places.
At present, as business is somewhat
slack, there are but $4,000 workers
employed. They turn out 700 autos
daily. The capacity OF the plant is
1900 per day AS the Ford company
does not manufacture the bodies.
lamps, drop forgings and various
other parts of the autos, there are
probably another $4,000 workers in
outside factories directly engaged in
producing Ford cars.
Another striking feature OF the Ford
plant is the speed OF the workers.
This is perhaps most noticeable in
the assembling of the autos. though
a similar haste is everywhere evident.
A skeleton frame is laid upon a sort
of skid; conveyor chain grips it,
and, as it slides along, the various
parts are added by the workers Each
worker has some little thing to add or
do, which he does walking beside the
ever-growing, ever-moving car. There
is no let-up whatever to the process.
When the worker has put on his
wheel, set on the gasoline tank, tight
ened nut, or finished whatever his
simple task may be, he hastens to do
the same thing to the next oncoming
car From the starting point it takes
a car but fifteen minutes until it runs
out of the building under its own pow
err The record time for assembling
an auto is eleven minutes. At the
Ford plant they will build you an auto
while you wait.
The Taylor System Outdone
The system at the Ford plant is
also thing to marvel at. 1t is ma
tive Ford product and is hardly ex-
celled by the Taylor system. Though
this system is everywhere evident, it
seems most striking in the handling
OF material. All through the plant
the raw and finished material seemed
TO be moved about almost by magic
Everywhere everyone was working
swiftly, yet but little material was to
be seen lying around or in transit as
is the case in ordinary machine shops
The secret is an elaborate system Of
conveyors 10 take it to and from the
the various machines, As soon as a
part goes throughout process it is
whisked away to another.
At the famous assembling skids the
autos seemed to grow almost out OF
the air Nowhere was material to be
seen upon the floor. In answer to my
wondering query, the guide pointed
out the various chutes whereby the
wheels. dashboards, tanks, etc, were
delivered from the upper floors to the
hands Of the assemblers using them.
All the material so delivered is rig
idly inspected and counted, even to
the last nut or bolt The smallest
waste is detected at once and elab-
crate explanations exacted. Small
chance indeed for shortage.
The Profit-Sharing Plan
The profit-sharing plan gives ali
married workers (whom Fords in
vestigators pronounce worthy, ordin-
ariIy rated at 38 cents per hour or
less flat rate Of $500 per day. Those
rated at SO cents to 48 cents get 5000
per day, etc The profit-sharing plan
makes Ford's workers doubly slaves
On the job it compels them to work
at a terrific pace. According to Ford's
own figures, it took $50 hours labor
10 produce an auto before the profit
sharing plan was introduced. Now il