Henry Ford: biography and success story

American engineer, inventor, industrialist Henry Ford was born in July 1863. He became the pride of the automotive industry of the United States, the founder of Ford Motor Company, the organizer of production and the designer of a flow-conveyor complex.

The car of Henry Ford is created as a work of art, there is nothing superfluous in it, its beauty is expedient and functional. And this is not a luxury toy. This is a convenient, affordable gift that made the average American family Henry Ford. The biography of this inventor and designer is a worthy example for every person.

Merit

The legend of the adherents of the "American dream," Henry Ford did not invent a car or a conveyor, as many of his compatriots believe. A self-propelled bogie was invented much earlier by a certain Ransom Olds, and at Chicago elevators and meat processing plants, belt conveyors have long been used .

Famous Henry Ford, whose biography eventually grows more and more fantastic details, the fact that he was able to create a flow in production. And the automobile business is also his idea, embodied by him in life. And most importantly - management. Economically organized enterprises need managers, and the twentieth century gave the world a businessman-creator. The best businessman of the century, according to the magazine Fortune!

They built the largest production from the then existing industry, on which Ford earned its first billion (today this money is "worth" thirty six billion). The principles of his administration still exert a tremendous influence on the entire structure of the US society. Ford managed to sell fifteen and a half million "Ford-T", and the production line necessary for production became more familiar than a bicycle on the street.

Opponent and creator of management

If Henry Ford was not an opponent of management principles, his biography would not be replenished with the title of the best businessman. He had his own principles: the worker paid twice as much as other employers, selling them cars at considerable discounts. So he created a class, still called "blue collar". He did not raise the demand for his products. No! He created the conditions for such a demand.

This was very different from the principles of the current production policy. The theory of management was created and formulated in a correspondence dispute between Ford and theorists who could not beat the noble automaker until the manager-practitioner from General Motors appeared, who defeated Henry Ford in full-time dispute. So successful Ford, whose biography is worthy of the pen of the screenwriter Hollywood film, as an entrepreneur, crashed in 1927.

Only the product is important

By this time, Henry could no longer change his convictions. He really "zazvezdilsya", that is, he was absolutely sure of his own rightness. And the times have come new, the change of which he did not notice. Successful production now required management, and with a new quality of management, Henry Ford could not understand this in time. His quotes on this subject are remarkable: "Gymnastics is nonsense." It is not good for healthy people, but it is contraindicated for sick people. " He also applied to management.

Ford was sure: if the product is good, it will certainly bring profit, and if it is bad, the most wonderful management will not bring results. Ford despised the art of government, ran around the shops, only looked occasionally into the office, financial documents seemed nauseating to him, he hated bankers, recognized only cash. Financiers were for him thieves, profiteers, pests and plunderers, and shareholders - parasites. And so Henry Ford's talent for the quote was scattered on this topic! Until now, grateful management has used them as an example of a loss of intuition in business. In any case, if he was not right, he was extremely honest with consumers.

Honest product

Henry Ford's statements on this issue are relevant at all times: "Only work creates values!" - he did not tire of repeating. So it was. Mass production at the plant did not begin until the model reached the ideal, absolutely universal, in the opinion of Ford, the state. Further, the production cycle is established , and the car is put on stream. Managers are looking for a common output, Ford looks after them, so that departments work with each other in concert, and then the profit flows freely to the enterprise.

All the most important questions the head of the enterprise solved himself. Henry Ford's theory was this: the value of a market strategy is "penetration prices". Every year the volume of production increases, costs constantly decrease, the prices for the car are regularly reduced, this is how the stable growth of profit is created, as demand grows. Profit necessarily returns to production. While the principles of Henry Ford worked for commercial success, he was an entrepreneur-individualist - shareholders did not pay at all.

Core Values

Here it is, the American dream: to be born, like Henry Ford, in a poor farm family, get rich and become famous. Compatriots can forget who their president is today, but Henry Ford's car will always be remembered. Ford served the idea, one and only and all his life, suffered absolute defeats, endured widespread ridicule, fought with sophisticated intrigues. But he achieved his goal: he created a car and earned billions.

The wife of Henry Ford - Clara - was also one for life. She believed him unquestioningly, supported selflessly in difficult moments. He was somehow asked how he would have lived if he were given a second opportunity. Henry Ford's statements have always been worthy of a memorial: "I would agree, but with one condition: I will marry Clara again."

Start

In fact, Henry's life did not begin so easily. He was born on a farm in Michigan, where from a small age he was forced to help his father in the field. He genuinely hated this occupation. He was attracted only by mechanisms. And the steam locomobile he saw at the age of twelve shook the boy's soul to the very bottom. So began the story of Henry Ford.

Every day until late at night, Henry suffered with the construction of a moving mechanism. He ceased to look like an ordinary boy: pockets full of nuts, instead of toys - tools. Parents gave the first in his life hours, which he took out the same day and collected as it was. From the age of fifteen he ran around the neighboring farms and repaired every kind of machinery, and so he did not finish school. Afterwards, Henry Ford's statements on this issue did not change worldview. He said that books are not taught anything practical, and for technology the most important is the mechanism from which he, as a writer from books, will draw all the ideas and be able to apply them.

Steam Locomobiles

Henry did not know in the work of rest: from farmer's roots he completely broke away, worked in a mechanical workshop, and at night he repaired a watch, earning money from a jeweler. Since he already had an idea, and only the self-propelled crew carried away all his dreams, at the age of sixteen he settled in Westinghouse Company as an expert in assembling and repairing locomobiles. These multi-ton automotive monsters made 12 miles per hour and were most often used as a tractor. Road locomobiles were so that not every farmer could buy such a car.

Henry Ford's first company, although not his child, gave him the opportunity to grow in the profession, to acquire ideas and try to implement them. The first attempt was the creation of an easy steam cart for plowing. Henry remembered about his father, about the fact that his father's dream of an assistant son had fallen, and his conscience, of course, worried. Therefore, he also wanted to quickly relieve the harsh share of farmers, to shift the main work from his father's shoulders to an iron horse.

The new engine

The tractor is not a mass product. People want a car that you can drive on roads, not a field work tool. However, the cart assembled by Henry was dangerous: it's more convenient to sit on a bomb than on a high-pressure boiler. Young Ford studied the boilers of all designs and realized that there was no future for them, that an easy crew with a steam engine was impossible. Hearing about the gas engines, Ford was filled with new hopes.

Clever people listened to him with interest, but Henry Ford's success in this business was absolutely unbelievable. He did not meet any acquaintance from educated people who would understand that the future of mankind is behind the engine of internal combustion. From that moment, he neglected all the advice of "wise men". This engine was designed by Henry Ford in 1887. To do this, he had to dismantle the gas engine of Philippe Lebon and understand what's there for, then go back to the farm to experiment there.

Engineer and mechanic

Father rejoiced at the return of his son and gave him a piece of wood, so that he would just stop picking on pieces of iron. Henry Ford, slightly cunning, agreed, built a house, a sawmill, a workshop and married Clara. Naturally, I spent all my free time in the studio, read books on mechanics, designed.

Since alone on the farm could not be promoted, he moved to Detroit, where he was offered a salary of 45 dollars in an electric company. Clara always supported her husband in all his endeavors.

He did not find any sympathy for his new colleagues, because they were sure that the whole future of the planet was behind electricity, but Thomas Edison , himself, "the father of electricity," became interested, took his understanding and wished him luck. Henry Ford was waved inexpressibly.

The first chauffeur of America

When in 1893 Henry Ford swept down Detroit in his first car with an internal combustion engine, which he called an ATV, the horses shied away, passers-by were amazed at the loud carcass, surrounded, questioned. There were no rules of traffic, so I had to get permission from the police. So he became the first officially approved chauffeur of America.

Riding for three years, Henry sold the first offspring for two hundred dollars and let them to create a new model of a lighter car. He then for some reason believed that heavy cars were not needed. Oh, if he now looked at the brainchild of his company - Ford Expedition, then I would definitely change my opinion. But then he believed that the mass product is easy and accessible.

By that time in the electric company he had been made the first engineer, he paid 125 dollars a month, but the automobile industry's experiments aroused indignation. It believed only in electricity. In the gas - no. The company offered Henry Ford an even higher post, but only let him give up this nonsense and get down to business. Ford thought and chose his dream.

Racing car

Quickly found partners who invested in the newly created Detroit Automobile Company for the production of racing cars. The idea of mass production Henry Ford could not defend. Companions needed money, they simply did not see any other application of the car. True, this enterprise did not bring big money to anyone. In 1902, he left the company to never again become dependent. "All by myself!" Said Henry Ford to himself. Achievements were on the way.

Speed was never put by Ford in the dignity of the car, but, since the public's attention could only be attracted by victory, he had to still prepare two cars designed for high speed. "It is impossible to give a more reliable guarantee," he said to himself. "It's possible to fall from the Niagara Falls with a large percentage of luck."

But the cars were ready for racing. There was not only a chauffeur. A bicyclist named Oldfield, looking for a thrill, agreed to ride with a breeze. But he never sat behind the wheel of a car. There was a week left before the race. The cyclist did not fail. Moreover, he never looked around, did not turn around and did not slow down at the corners: how he "kicked" the pedal to the stop at the start, and did not slow down to the finish. Ford's car came first. Investors were interested, about a week later the company was founded, Ford's main brainchild.

Car for everyone

Henry Ford organized his own enterprise according to his own plan. In the priority was a product reliable, easy to manage, cheap, light, massive. Ford did not want to work for the rich, but wanted to make all compatriots happy. No luxury, the most simple and functional finish. And the prestige of the brand did not matter either. Even the beautiful names of his models were not, each new he called the next letter of the alphabet.

Ford adhered to three basic financial principles: he did not take other people's capital, he bought everything only for cash, and all profits necessarily went into production. Dividers rely only on those who participate in the creation of the product. All thoughts, all efforts Ford directed to create a universal car. She became a model with the letter "T". The previous ones also sold very well, but, in comparison with the "T", they seemed just experimental. Now, advertising could rightly say: "Every child will be able to manage" Ford "!

Perfect creation

In 1909, Henry Ford announced that he would now produce only a "T" model with the same chassis. And, as always, he made this statement witty: - "Everyone can buy" Ford-T "of absolutely any color, but on the condition that any color will be black."

To understand the scale of the event the head of the company started, and started with absolute belief in success, we need to imagine that a certain person has created a company to provide each of us with cheap and comfortable aircraft. This in those days was related to buying a car.

The car had to be quite roomy, so that the whole family could easily find a job. Henry Ford also worried about the choice of the material, which should be the best. The design should be as simple as possible in today's technology, "he believed. And he always had first-class workers.

Ford said that the price of the car will be so low that any working person can buy it. Here, on these very words, many people stopped believing him. Factory cans! Shouted his opponents. A model "T" was called "Lizzy tin." It would seem that it makes no difference what dogs bark about. Anyway - the caravan is coming. But to sell a lot, low prices will not help. It is necessary to convince in quality.

Customer Care

At the origins of the automotive industry, car sales were considered a profitable operation - and only. Have sold - have forgotten. The fate of the car no one was interested. When repairing spare parts were prohibitively expensive, since the owner has nowhere to go - he will buy as a pretty one. Ford sold spare parts extremely cheaply and took care of repairing cars of its plant.

The competitors were agitated. Intrigues, gossip, even courts about patents began. Ford did not hesitate to publish in the newspapers that every car buyer can demand a 12 million dollar bond from Ford Motor, which guarantees that this money will be received in case of unpleasant accidents. And he asked not to buy cars of obviously low quality at high prices from enemies of Ford Motor Company. And it worked! In 1927, a fifteen millionth Ford-T car drove out of the factory gate, which had not changed in nineteen years. Henry Ford did not change his principles either. His biography did not end there. Before his death in 1947, he managed to do a lot: create the best cars, write some very interesting books and implement the American dream.

When it seems that the whole world is against you, remember that the plane takes off against the wind! So spoke Henry Ford. And he followed this rule all his life.