The American economy is a vibrant, free-market system that is constantly developing out of the choices and decisions made by millions of citizens who play multiple, often overlapping roles as consumers, producers, investors and voters. The changes in the organization and performances of the manufacturing industry over the last century have helped shape the American economy. The Automotive industry perhaps made the biggest changes to their manufacturing processes. I will be reviewing the role of the industrialist Henry Ford and his innovative methods that changed the organization and performance of the American manufacturing industry forever. He produced an affordable car, paid high wages and helped create a middle class, which in turn fueled the America Industrial revolution into overdrive mode. I will also review the impact of these performance and organizational changes on the service sector and the agricultural industry. But first we look at the automotive industry.The requirements for mass production of a particular commodity must include the existence of mass consumption of the commodity, sufficient to justify large investment. Most early automobile companies were small shops, hundreds of which each produced a few handmade cars, predominately sold to the rich. In America almost all of the producers were assemblers who put together components and parts that were manufactured by separate firms. The assembly technique also lent itself to an advantageous method of financing. It was possible to begin building motor vehicles with minimal investment of capital by buying parts on credit and selling the finished cars for cash; the cash sale from manufacturer to dealer has been integral in the marketing of motor vehicles in the United States ever since.The outstanding contribution of the automotive industry to technological advance was the introduction of full-scale mass production, a process combining precision, consistency, interchange...
