The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-07-25


plant was again in full operation. |
Since that time, with production rec |
ords smashed almost weekly, the COM |
pany's Increasing sales and production |
have become the marvel of the indus |
trial world. On July IL, 4,461 cars |
were turned out in single day, total |
production for July will be close to !
100000 cars-and still, Mr.. Ford says,
production is far behind orders.
What wrought this change?
The answer is in two words
liquidation and economy
Ford did to his business what the
doctor does to a. man Frustrated by
over-eating and drinking-he admins
tered stern regimen of fasting and
diet. He stopped buying. Then, by
turning all his stock on hand, rough
and manufactured, into cash and by
eliminating every element and unit,
throughout the whole vast organiza-
ton, that did not produce, he forced
his industry, for time, to live off its
| own fat. He met his obligations, not
| by borrowing money and thus perpet-
| uating numberless extravagances that
had crept in during the war, but by
devising new methods of efficiency in
| buying, in distribution, in admnistra-
| ton and accounting and by eliminating
waste.
Tell of the Storm.
| The story of how Henry anil Edsel
Ford, with methods long planned to
meet the coming storm, engineered
| their industry into a position such
that there never was a moment when
1t was pressed for ready cash for its
/ needs, and thus, to advancement of
Wall Street, "turntd the corner" is
kind of business and industrial epic.
Out at the plant of the Dearborn In
dependent, the other day, Mr.. Ford sat.
coat off, watching never-ending pro-
cession, moving along the roadway
just ouside, of mowers, threshing ma
chimes and wagons, hauled by tractors,
on their way to and from the harvest
fields of his estate. The day was hot
He was reluctant to talk.
I'm thinking now of the present
and future" he said. THAT financing
matter is thing of the past-let it
stay there"
But" some one suggested, there
are other plants, big and little,
throughout the countyr, that today
face the same problems you had; they
might benefit by your experience"
His face frightened, then broke into
a smile, as he said:
Now you've said something. May
be 1t would be worth while"
SO he sent for lot of records and
data illuminative of what was done by
the company in the 10 months just
passed, and with this before him, said ::
IF there's anything in my expert,
ence during the last year that will
help anybody, they can have it right
off. Ny father used to say to me
Never buy things until you need
them; if you've got anything lying
around that you don't need, sell it,
used to laugh at him-but now know
he was right Then, too, there are
ways of meeting financial obligations
? other than borrowing money. Increas
: J ing efficiency to get decreased manu-
Z. featuring costs, and thus turning
. waste into dollars-that's one of them
r AS a general proposition, the time
5 when you need it is poor time to Dor
t row money-the man with the money
n can demand too high terms"
r rs there any one thing" l asked
r Mr.. Ford, ito which you can ascribt
your success in mastering all YOU
4 problems-any basic formula or prin
r ciple that l could express in a few
/ words"
!. Faith, The Solution.
j "Oh, yes there is" said the manu-
:, facturer, sitting up in his chair, very
n much interested now, and pointing his
d finger in emphasis. Yes there is
l. you'll find the central idea of the
l. whole thing in the Bible, in Hebrews
= II, Faith. Faith is the substance
k of things hoped for-the evidence O
r things not seen Faith is the thin;
l. that makes reality of what a mai
e hopes for. | had faith that the coun
/" try and conditions in our industr.
e would right themselves-and they ar
l. doing it every day"
= The manufacturer gazed out of tn,
y window moment and then:
l. Our difficulties" he went on, ELK
e those of other great plants, were
4 heritage of the war War is not onl.
T. damnable for the lives it costs, blu
W also for its after effects on society, OF
e civilization. Every form of human az
1t tivity is stimulated artificially.
a. Drink makes a mans senses keer
Of er-he sees, hears and feels thing
W that are not real, but abnormal; h
j. bases his actions on thoughts, idea
- anu Impulses lIIdI are uOL SOuul
c. That's just what war does to bushes
0, and indutry. The banker, suddenl
lie handling millions where before h
handled but thousands, becomes loos
and takes chances which formerly
IL would have thought unsound TIL
It. manufacturer faced by ever risin
al costs of materials, comes to take littl
Of heed to expense and seeks only I
d. make profits over costs. Labor, ge
ID ting unprecedented wages, instead {
I'd increasing effort and production r
n duces it, trying to get still highe
n wages. War, by its unwholesom
I'd stimulation, undermines everything
b. Our organization suffered alon
n with the rest. We took a lot of wa
IN work-Eagle boats, motors, helmet
is tanks and other things. This opene
k, up holes in our organization w
ry needed help office and shop, yet in er
ST. ploying we could not be as finely di
lie eliminating as we had been in peaC
lis times. An immensely increased owe
u head expense was built up-stresse
at conditions seemed to compel it.
W peace times it would be a dead weigh
ut utterly useless. Consequently, Wi
be the war over we knew that as II
/ haa ~