« all texts

Henry Ford – Lean Manufacturing

Henry Ford hated waste. His ambition was to produce the most efficient production line for making his Model T cars. He thought about the process flow; beginning with raw materials and finishing with a happy customer driving a new car.

In Michigan, USA in 1913, Henry Ford created a moving, assembly line to produce cars. Every worker had a different job and the cars moved through the factory past each workstation. Mr. Ford had an office on the second floor so he could watch the whole line. If he saw that a part of the line was too slow or workers had to move too quickly, he would change the system until it was more efficient.

His techniques included standardisation, paying good wages and reducing waste. Henry Ford is considered the “Father of Lean Manufacturing”.

Toyota is the largest car manufacturer in the world today, and the Toyota Production System (TPS) is based on the original ideas of Henry Ford.

00:00
02:26
Press Enter or Space to show volume slider.
-
100%
+
Karennew
Business English
Robertnew
American English

Did you understand the text?

Please answer the following questions of understanding:

Question 1:
What did Henry Ford hate?
a Production
b Toyota
c Waste
d Cars
Question 2:
What type of car did Henry make?
a Model T
b Volkswagen Beetle
c Model A
d Toyota Yaris
Question 3:
Who is the largest car manufacturer today?
a Volkswagen
b Ford
c TPS
d Toyota
Question 4:
Where was the first Ford Assembly Line?
a New York
b Michigan
c Tokyo
d London
Question 5:
What was the last step in Henry Ford’s process?
a A happy customer
b Raw materials
c A workstation
d His office
Question 6:
What did Henry Ford do?
a Pay his workers poorly
b Offer a large range of different cars
c Invent an efficient manufacturing system
d Make Toyota cars
Question 7:
Where was Henry Ford’s office?
a At a workstation
b In his car
c In New York
d On the second floor
Question 8:
Why is Henry Ford considered the father of Lean Manufacturing?
a He created Toyota
b He created an efficient system
c He was kind to his workers
d He had children
Please answer all questions about the text:
You have answered 0 of 8 questions.