The visit to Ford River Rouge plant is a great way to understand how cars are assembled. The tour starts with a video overview of the River Rouge plant, which opened in 1913, and the history of Ford Motor Corporation. The video shows how Henry Ford developed the assembly line to increase productivity in the manufacture of automobiles. When Ford started this approach, it reduced the time to make a car from 12 hours to 93 minutes. The second “multi-sensory” video showed how the process at the River Rouge Factory. We all were able to see the assembly process, and see the F150 trucks rolling off the assembly line.
Students are able to assess the types of work that workers perform during the assembly process, as well as how mechanized the process is. Many of the steps in the process are mechanized, utilizing robots and other machinery to install parts to create the F150.
Tonight we are in Toledo. We will visit with Materion Brush staff during dinner to prepare for our visit to their facility tomorrow.
