An insight into Fordism, the concept, and post-Fordism effects on the United States.
Fordism is a term for a type of industrial management based on assembly-line methods named after Henry Ford the industrialist. This paper looks at how the concept came about by the discovery that output could be increased by efficient use of conveyor belt, minute division of labor and most important incentive by doubling wages. It examines the Fordism downfall during the Great Depression due to the inability to pay these high wages and the effect on American industry which has since moved on with globalization of the markets making it harder to protect the national products and industries.
“Fordism, encompasses two very important aspects, both of which though had limitations, yet they laid the foundations for the economy of the United States to pursue guidelines, a glimpse of which can be observed in the successful capitalist economy of the present day United States. First was the excellent utilization of the assembly line system in the Ford plant, the prime objective of which was to reduce production time. Thus, by the efficient use of conveyor belt, and minute division of labor, Ford was able to reduce the total production time for each car from 728 minutes to a remarkable 93 minute, and in essence, Ford was turning out a model, particularly the Model T in every 24 seconds.”