Proc 5850

Logistics PROC 5850

Abstract

In the decline of the economy we have seen the American automobile industry almost totally collapse and would have if not for the bail outs of the U.S Government. It really stops and makes you think about what their state was before the collapse and why couldn’t they have supported themselves through such a decline like so many other companies were able to do? In these difficult times and even a period where quality for the first time in their history had taken a big hit, why was Toyota able to overcome and stay in business and come out stronger than before?

In this paper we will look at the beginning of the automobile industry, look at the pioneers and the genius behind it, and look at how Japan was able to look at the American way and adapt their own system which has led us to what we have today.

Because of those before them, we have the very competitive automobile industry which is a big part of the American economy and the employer of millions.

In this day and age everyone in this country and probably around the world knows or has heard the name “Ford”. We know the name Ford because of course the Ford Motor Company. This company was founded by a man by the name of Henry ford at the age of 40 back in 1903.

Henry Ford was born in the year 1863, in Dearborn, Michigan and was one of eight children. At the age of sixteen he had his first job in a machine shop in Detroit and at nineteen came into contact with the internal combustion engine. He built a “farm locomotive” or tractor that used an old mowing machine for its chassis and a homemade steam engine for power.

In 1893, Ford was made chief engineer at the main Detroit Edison Company plant and was responsible for maintaining electric service in the city. By 1896, he had completed his first horseless carriage, the “Quadricycle,” which was a four horsepower vehicle with a buggy frame mounted on four bicycle wheels.

In 1899, the Detroit Automobile Company was...