Ford & Other Cars

8/6/2019 Ford & Other Cars

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Ford Model T Automobile

In 1908 Henry Ford began production of the Model T automobile. Based on

his original Model A design first manufactured in 1903, the Model T took

five years to develop. Its creation inaugurated what we know today as the

mass production assembly line. This revolutionary idea was based on the

concept of simply assembling interchangeable component parts. Prior to

this time, coaches and buggies had been hand-built in small numbers by

specialized craftspeople who rarely duplicated any particular unit. Ford's

innovative design reduced the number of parts needed as well as the

number of skilled fitters who had always formed the bulk of the assembly

operation, giving Ford a tremendous advantage over his competition.

Ford's first venture into automobile assembly with the Model A involved

setting up assembly stands on which the whole vehicle was built, usually

by a single assembler who fit an entire section of the car together in one

place. This person performed the same activity over and over at his

stationary assembly stand. To provide for more efficiency, Ford had parts

delivered as needed to each work station. In this way each assembly fitter

took about 8.5 hours to complete his assembly task. By the time theModel T was being developed Ford had decided to use multiple assembly

stands with assemblers moving from stand to stand, each performing a

specific function. This process reduced the assembly time for each fitter

from 8.5 hours to a mere 2.5 minutes by rendering each worker

completely familiar with a specific task.

Ford soon recognized that walking from stand to stand wasted time and

created jam-ups in the production process as faster workers overtook

slower ones. In Detroit in 1913, he solved this problem by introducing the

first moving assembly line, a conveyor that moved the vehicle past a

stationary assembler. By eliminating the need for workers to move

between stations, Ford cut the assembly task for each worker from 2.5

minutes to just under 2 minutes; the moving assembly conveyor could

now pace the stationary worker. The first conveyor line consisted of metal

strips to which the vehicle's wheels were attached. The metal strips were

attached to a belt that rolled the length of the factory and then, beneath


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the floor, returned to the beginning area. This reduction in the amount of

human effort required to assemble an automobile caught the attention of

automobile assemblers throughout the world. Ford's mass production

drove the automobile industry for nearly five decades and was eventuallyadopted by almost every other industrial manufacturer. Although

technological advancements have enabled many improvements to

modern day automobile assembly operations, the basic concept of

stationary workers installing parts on a vehicle as it passes their work

stations has not changed drastically over the years.

Raw Materials

Although the bulk of an automobile is virgin steel, petroleum-based

products (plastics and vinyls) have come to represent an increasingly

large percentage of automotive components. The light-weight materials

derived from petroleum have helped to lighten some models by as much

as thirty percent. As the price of fossil fuels continues to rise, the

preference for lighter, more fuel efficient vehicles will become more

pronounced.

Design

Introducing a new model of automobile generally takes three to five years

from inception to assembly. Ideas for new models are developed to

respond to unmet pubic needs and preferences. Trying to predict what the

public will want to drive in five years is no small feat, yet automobile

companies have successfully designed automobiles that fit public tastes.

With the help of computer-aided design equipment, designers developbasic concept drawings that help them visualize the proposed vehicle's

appearance. Based on this simulation, they then construct clay models

that can be studied by styling experts familiar with what the public is

likely to accept. Aerodynamic engineers also review the models, studying

air-flow parameters and doing feasibility studies on crash tests. Only after

all models have been reviewed and accepted are tool designers permitted

to begin building the tools that will manufacture the component parts of

the new model.


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The ManufacturingProcess

Components

1 The automobile assembly plant represents only the final phase in

the process of manufacturing an automobile, for it is here that the

components supplied by more than 4,000 outside suppliers,

including company-owned parts suppliers, are brought together for

assembly, usually by truck or railroad. Those parts that will be used

in the chassis are delivered to one area, while those that will

comprise the body are unloaded at another.

Chassis

2 The typical car or truck is constructed from the ground up (and

out). The frame forms the base on which the body rests and from

which all subsequent assembly components follow. The frame is

placed on the assembly line and clamped to the conveyer to

prevent shifting as it moves down the line. From here the

automobile frame moves to component assembly areas where

complete front and rear suspensions, gas tanks, rear axles and drive

shafts, gear boxes, steering box components, wheel drums, and

braking systems are sequentially installed.

Workers install engines on Model Ts at a Ford Motor Company plant.

The photo is from about 1917.


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The automobile, for decades the quintessential American industrial

product, did not have its origins in the United States. In 1860,

Etienne Lenoir, a Belgian mechanic, introduced an internal

combustion engine that proved useful as a source of stationarypower. In 1878, Nicholas Otto, a German manufacturer, developed

his four-stroke "explosion" engine. By 1885, one of his engineers,

Gottlieb Daimler, was building the first of four experimental vehicles

powered by a modified Otto internal combustion engine. Also in

1885, another German manufacturer, Carl Benz, introduced a three-

wheeled, self-propelled vehicle. In 1887, the Benz became the first

automobile offered for sale to the public. By 1895, automotive

technology was dominated by the French, led by Emile Lavassor.

Lavassor developed the basic mechanical arrangement of the car,

placing the engine in the front of the chassis, with the crankshaft

perpendicular to the axles.

In 1896, the Duryea Motor Wagon became the first production

motor vehicle in the United States. In that same year, Henry Ford

demonstrated his first experimental vehicle, the Quadricycle. By

1908, when the Ford Motor Company introduced the Model T, the

United States had dozens of automobile manufacturers. The Model T

quickly became the standard by which other cars were measured;

ten years later, half of all cars on the road were Model Ts. It had a

simple four-cylinder, twenty-horsepower engine and a planetary

transmission giving two gears forward and one backward. It was

sturdy, had high road clearance to negotiate the rutted roads of the

day, and was easy to operate and maintain.

William S. Pretzer

3 An off-line operation at this stage of production mates the

vehicle's engine with its transmission. Workers use robotic arms to

install these heavy components inside the engine compartment of

the frame. After the engine and transmission are installed, a


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On automobile assembly lines, much of the work is now done by

robots rather than humans. In the first stages of automobile

manufacture, robots weld the floor pan pieces together and assist

workers in placing components such as the suspension onto the

chassis.

worker attaches the radiator, and another bolts it into place.

Because of the nature of these heavy component parts, articulating

robots perform all of the lift and carry operations while assemblers

using pneumatic wrenches bolt component pieces in place. Careful

ergonomic studies of every assembly task have provided assembly

workers with the safest and most efficient tools available.

Body

4 Generally, the floor pan is the largest body component to which a

multitude of panels and braces will subsequently be either welded

or bolted. As it moves down the assembly line, held in place by

clamping fixtures, the shell of the vehicle is built. First, the left and


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right quarter panels are robotically disengaged from pre-staged

shipping containers and placed onto the floor pan, where they are

stabilized with positioning fixtures and welded.

5 The front and rear door pillars, roof, and body side panels areassembled in the same fashion. The shell of the automobile

assembled in this section of the process lends itself to the use of

robots because articulating arms can easily introduce various

component braces and panels to the floor pan and perform a high

number of weld operations in a time frame and with a degree of

accuracy no human workers could ever approach. Robots can pick

and load 200-pound (90.8 kilograms) roof panels and place them

precisely in the proper weld position with tolerance variations held

to within .001 of an inch. Moreover, robots can also tolerate the

The body is built up on a separate assembly line from the chassis.

Robots once again perform most of the welding on the various

panels, but human workers are necessary to bolt the parts together.

During welding, component pieces are held securely in a jig while

welding operations are performed. Once the body shell is complete,

it is attached to an overhead conveyor for the painting process. The

multi-step painting process entails inspection, cleaning, undercoat

(electrostatically applied) dipping, drying, topcoat spraying, and

baking.


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smoke, weld flashes, and gases created during this phase of

production.

6 As the body moves from the isolated weld area of the assembly

line, subsequent body components including fully assembled doors,

deck lids, hood panel, fenders, trunk lid, and bumper reinforcements

are installed. Although robots help workers place these components

onto the body shell, the workers provide the proper fit for most of

the bolt-on functional parts using pneumatically assisted tools.

Paint

7 Prior to painting, the body must pass through a rigorous

inspection process, the body in white operation. The shell of the

vehicle passes through a brightly lit white room where it is fully

wiped down by visual inspectors using cloths soaked in hi-light oil.

Under the lights, this oil allows inspectors to see any defects in the

sheet metal body panels. Dings, dents, and any other defects are

repaired right on the line by skilled body repairmen. After the shell

has been fully inspected and repaired, the assembly conveyor

carries it through a cleaning station where it is immersed and

cleaned of all residual oil, dirt, and contaminants.

8 As the shell exits the cleaning station it goes through a drying

booth and then through an undercoat dipan electrostatically

charged bath of undercoat paint (called the E-coat) that covers

every nook and cranny of the body shell, both inside and out, with

primer. This coat acts as a substrate surface to which the top coat of

colored paint adheres.

9 After the E-coat bath, the shell is again dried in a booth as it

proceeds on to the final paint operation. In most automobile

assembly plants today, vehicle bodies are spray-painted by robots

that have been programmed to apply the exact amounts of paint to

just the right areas for just the right length of time. Considerable

research and programming has gone into the dynamics of robotic

painting in order to ensure the fine "wet" finishes we have come to
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Paint.htmlhttp://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Paint.html


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expect. Our robotic painters have come a long way since Ford's first

Model Ts, which were painted by hand with a brush.

10 Once the shell has been fully covered 1 Vwith a base coat of

color paint and a clear top coat, the conveyor transfers the bodiesthrough baking ovens where the paint is cured at temperatures

exceeding 275 degrees Fahrenheit (135 degrees Celsius).

The body and chassis assemblies are mated near the end of theproduction process. Robotic arms lift the body shell onto the chassis

frame, where human workers then bolt the two together. After final

components are installed, the vehicle is driven off the assembly line

to a quality checkpoint.

After the shell leaves the paint area it is ready for interior assembly.

Interior assembly

11 The painted shell proceeds through the interior assembly area

where workers assemble all of the instrumentation and wiring

systems, dash panels, interior lights, seats, door and trim panels,

headliners, radios, speakers, all glass except the automobile

windshield, steering column and wheel, body weatherstrips, vinyl

tops, brake and gas pedals, carpeting, and front and rear bumper

fascias.


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12 Next, robots equipped with suction cups remove the windshield

from a shipping container, apply a bead of urethane sealer to the

perimeter of the glass, and then place it into the body windshield

frame. Robots also pick seats and trim panels and transport them tothe vehicle for the ease and efficiency of the assembly operator.

After passing through this section the shell is given a water test to

ensure the proper fit of door panels, glass, and weatherstripping. It

is now ready to mate with the chassis.

Mate

13 The chassis assembly conveyor and the body shell conveyor

meet at this stage of production. As the chassis passes the body

conveyor the shell is robotically lifted from its conveyor fixtures and

placed onto the car frame. Assembly workers, some at ground level

and some in work pits beneath the conveyor, bolt the car body to

the frame. Once the mating takes place the automobile proceeds

down the line to receive final trim components, battery, tires, anti-

freeze, and gasoline.

14 The vehicle can now be started. From here it is driven to acheckpoint off the line, where its engine is audited, its lights and

horn checked, its tires balanced, and its charging system examined.

Any defects discovered at this stage require that the car be taken to

a central repair area, usually located near the end of the line. A

crew of skilled trouble-shooters at this stage analyze and repair all

problems. When the vehicle passes final audit it is given a price

label and driven to a staging lot where it will await shipment to its

destination.

Quality Control

All of the components that go into the automobile are produced at other

sites. This means the thousands of component pieces that comprise the

car must be manufactured, tested, packaged, and shipped to the

assembly plants, often on the same day they will be used. This requires no

small amount of planning. To accomplish it, most automobile


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manufacturers require outside parts vendors to subject their component

parts to rigorous testing and inspection audits similar to those used by the

assembly plants. In this way the assembly plants can anticipate that the

products arriving at their receiving docks are Statistical Process Control(SPC) approved and free from defects.

Once the component parts of the automobile begin to be assembled at

the automotive factory, production control specialists can follow the

progress of each embryonic automobile by means of its Vehicle

Identification Number (VIN), assigned at the start of the production line. In

many of the more advanced assembly plants a small radio frequency

transponder is attached to the chassis and floor pan. This sending unitcarries the VIN information and monitors its progress along the assembly

process. Knowing what operations the vehicle has been through, where it

is going, and when it should arrive at the next assembly station gives

production management personnel the ability to electronically control the

manufacturing sequence. Throughout the assembly process quality audit

stations keep track of vital information concerning the integrity of various

functional components of the vehicle.

This idea comes from a change in quality control ideology over the years.

Formerly, quality control was seen as a final inspection process that

sought to discover defects only after the vehicle was built. In contrast,

today quality is seen as a process built right into the design of the vehicle

as well as the assembly process. In this way assembly operators can stop

the conveyor if workers find a defect. Corrections can then be made, or

supplies checked to determine whether an entire batch of components is

bad. Vehicle recalls are costly and manufacturers do everything possible

to ensure the integrity of their product before it is shipped to the

customer. After the vehicle is assembled a validation process is conducted

at the end of the assembly line to verify quality audits from the various

inspection points throughout the assembly process. This final audit tests

for properly fitting panels; dynamics; squeaks and rattles; functioning

electrical components; and engine, chassis, and wheel alignment. In many

assembly plants vehicles are periodically pulled from the audit line and


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given full functional tests. All efforts today are put forth to ensure that

quality and reliability are built into the assembled product.

The Future

The development of the electric automobile will owe more to innovative

solar and aeronautical engineering and advanced satellite and radar

technology than to traditional automotive design and construction. The

electric car has no engine, exhaust system, transmission, muffler,

radiator, or spark plugs. It will require neither tune-ups nortruly

revolutionarygasoline. Instead, its power will come from alternating

current (AC) electric motors with a brushless design capable of spinning

up to 20,000 revolutions/minute. Batteries to power these motors will

come from high performance cells capable of generating more than 100

kilowatts of power. And, unlike the lead-acid batteries of the past and

present, future batteries will be environmentally safe and recyclable.

Integral to the braking system of the vehicle will be a power inverter that

converts direct current electricity back into the battery pack system once

the accelerator is let off, thus acting as a generator to the battery system

even as the car is driven long into the future.

The growth of automobile use and the increasing resistance to road

building have made our highway systems both congested and obsolete.

But new electronic vehicle technologies that permit cars to navigate

around the congestion and even drive themselves may soon become

possible. Turning over the operation of our automobiles to computers

would mean they would gather information from the roadway about

congestion and find the fastest route to their instructed destination, thus

making better use of limited highway space. The advent of the electric car

will come because of a rare convergence of circumstance and ability.

Growing intolerance for pollution combined with extraordinary

technological advancements will change the global transportation

paradigm that will carry us into the twenty-first century.

Where To Learn More

Books


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Abernathy, William. The Productivity Dilemma: Roadblock to Innovation inthe Automobile Industry.Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978.Gear Design, Manufacturing & Inspection Manual. Society ofManufacturing Engineers, Inc., 1990.Hounshell, David. From the American System to Mass Production.Johns

Hopkins University Press, 1984.Lamming, Richard. Beyond Partnership: Strategies for Innovation & LeanSupply. Prentice Hall, 1993.Making the Car. Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association of the UnitedStates, 1987.Mortimer, J., ed.Advanced Manufacturing in the AutomotiveIndustry. Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., 1987.Mortimer, John.Advanced Manufacturing in the Automotive Industry. AirScience Co., 1986.Nevins, Allen and Frank E. Hill. Ford: The Times, The Man, TheCompany. Scribners, 1954.Seiffert, Ulrich.Automobile Technology of the Future. Society ofAutomotive Engineers, Inc., 1991.Sloan, Alfred P. My Years with General Motors. Doubleday, 1963.

Periodicals"The Secrets of the Production Line," The Economist. October 17, 1992, p.S5. Rick Bockmiller

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Ford & Other Cars