HPS202 Lecture 13: Taylorism to Fordism
Taylorism
- Frederick Winslow Taylor (1886-1915); Scientific Management, aka
Taylorism
- Technical, engineering education, but started on factory floor;
appalled at disorganized and inefficient production processes and
soldiering workers.
- Break process into individual tasks
- For each task, carefully study and time average worker
- Adjust environment to optimize task
- Pay according to new normal
- All control over work relinquished to management
Automobiles
- What is an automobile: self-propelled vehicle, suitable for streets
or roads, used for transporting passengers
- Nicholas von Otto (1832-1891)
- Steam, electric, or internal combustion? No technical winner -
perhaps the deciding factor was social, or beyond scope of actual
automotive technology?
Fordism and Mass Production
- Henry Ford (1863-1947)
- According to Ford: "the focussing upon a manufacturing project of
the principles of power, accuracy, economy, system, continuity, and
speed." (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1926)
- The famous Model T: innovative design, but more innovative
production (eventually): Armory Practice + Taylorism + continuous
assembly line
- ModelTProductionNumbers 1909-1916
- The role of young cadre of production engineers; what did Ford
really do?