Summary Of Scale In The Flivver King

Economy of Scale in The Flivver King
In The Flivver King, written by Upton Sinclair, Henry Ford started his own manufacturing in the back cottage on Bagley Street in the city of Detroit. The young inventor began to tinker and to make improvements to his new invention of the horseless carriage. Once he finally gained confidence to take it out for the public to see, the people were unsure if it was a joke or a step in civilization (8). Ford decided to look at the matter from an entirely different angle- the horseless carriage as a useful article for everybody instead of as a toy for the rich (10). Henry Ford’s Model T helped him to accomplish economies of scale because he took the steps to use a standardized model, use the assembly line, and revolutionize mass production.
Henry Ford’s development of the single and unchanging automobile model meant the possibility to concentrate upon a single cheap car for the masses. When The Ford Company began to make Model C for $900, Model F for a thousand, and Model B for two thousand, the profits began to drop more and more each year and progress was being made backwards. The Ford factory was taken control over by Henry who stopped the production of

several models besides Model T. He knew that mass of America cared a great deal about the use and not beauty. Therefore, Model T was created for the engine to run and run and the wheels to turn and turn (22). Model T helped Ford accomplish the economies of scale because there were going to be cheaper cars and more of them which helped to decrease the cost of each car by spreading the cost out over a large number of cars.
Ford’s Model T also helped change the way manufacturers operate. With a single model to produce, new devices like the assembly line rapidly turned out large quantities of nearly identical interchangeable parts. The higher production of cars and the lower prices leads to an increase in profit. Ford managers and engineers could promptly invest in such costly machines and achieve a great amount of savings in their manufacturing operations (V). The assembly line helped to decrease the cost of each item because more and more cars could be made at a faster pace. Skill didn’t matter much to Ford for the cars he was making were identical because the line was limited by the subdivision of tasks and by the pace of the conveyor- an increase in the speed of the line increased the output.
Ford’s Model T helped to revolutionize mass production to accomplish economies of scale because they used the same equipment and labor to make many cars so the cost of both is spread across many items. The initiative was to use interchangeable parts that could be put together easily by unskilled workers to ensure the production line ran as efficiently as possible to produce the greatest amount in one day. The combination of accuracy, steadiness and speed introduced mass production to the world. At Highland Park, where Ford designed the whole factory around the manufacture of Model T, Model T production reached record levels, with a complete car leaving the line every 10 seconds of every working day. Ford was able to cut prices, double the minimum daily wage to $5, produce a superior product, and still make a profit. At this time, two million Model Ts were being produced by Ford each year and sold at $260 – a very affordable price for its time.
Ford knew that the only way to increase sales was to have a low price.

This idea, to some extent, came from his desire to sell his cars on Main Street in Oshkosh and Topeka. By using the standardized Model T, Ford was able to produce a great amount of cars that are identical for cheap. The assembly line made every working man have the same task and to do that task well and efficient. The assembly line lead to mass production which increased the production by an incredible amount. All three steps contributed to helping Ford accomplish economies of scales because each step decreased the cost of Model T by spreading the costs out over a large number of cars. The process of lowering prices and increasing sales was going right and the people made it plain that they liked the

idea.