\r\n During the late 1910s and early 1920s, the Ford Motor Corporation constructed the world’s largest industrial complex along the banks of the Rouge River in Dearborn, Michigan. Henry Ford's vision of mass production included not only the first production lines, but also the centralisation of the entire production chain. Iron ore and coal were shipped in by Great Lakes steamers and railroad, iron ore melted to produce iron, and then processed into steel. Rolling mills, forges and assembly workshops converted the steel into springs, axles and car bodies, foundries poured molten steel to produce engine blocks and cylinder heads. A massive glass factory manufactured the windscreens. The most basic of raw materials came in; cars rolled out. There was no place for suppliers or contracts – Ford basically owned the whole lot.
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\r\n Rick Graham, ESI International
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