Walter Emmett Flanders (1871-1923) was a
U.S. AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
industrialist in the
machine toolA machine tool is a powered mechanical device, typically used to fabricate metal components of machines by machining, which is the selective removal of metal. The term machine tool is usually reserved for tools that used a power source other than human movement, but they can be powered by people if...
and
automotiveThe automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells the world's motor vehicles. In 2008, more than 70 million motor vehicles, including cars and commercial vehicles were produced worldwide....
industries and was an early mass production expert. He was a native of Vermont, and was a highly knowledgeable salesman of machine tools (who was also an expert in their development and use) when he was recruited by the
Ford Motor CompanyThe Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury brands, Ford also owns Volvo Cars of Sweden, and a small stake...
in August 1906 to be what
Charles E. SorensenCharles Emil Sorensen was a Danish-American principal of the Ford Motor Company during its first four decades. Like most other managers at Ford during those decades, he did not have an official title, but he served functionally as a patternmaker, foundry engineer, mechanical engineer, industrial...
variously described as "a cost-cutting production manager" and a "roistering genius" "with the entirely unofficial rating of works manager" whose "hiring arrangement included an understanding that he could continue to sell machinery elsewhere with an organization of his own." During his rather short (20-month) tenure at the young company, he helped tremendously to orient its production operations toward the coming era of mass production.
Walter Emmett Flanders (1871-1923) was a
U.S. AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
industrialist in the
machine toolA machine tool is a powered mechanical device, typically used to fabricate metal components of machines by machining, which is the selective removal of metal. The term machine tool is usually reserved for tools that used a power source other than human movement, but they can be powered by people if...
and
automotiveThe automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells the world's motor vehicles. In 2008, more than 70 million motor vehicles, including cars and commercial vehicles were produced worldwide....
industries and was an early mass production expert. He was a native of Vermont, and was a highly knowledgeable salesman of machine tools (who was also an expert in their development and use) when he was recruited by the
Ford Motor CompanyThe Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury brands, Ford also owns Volvo Cars of Sweden, and a small stake...
in August 1906 to be what
Charles E. SorensenCharles Emil Sorensen was a Danish-American principal of the Ford Motor Company during its first four decades. Like most other managers at Ford during those decades, he did not have an official title, but he served functionally as a patternmaker, foundry engineer, mechanical engineer, industrial...
variously described as "a cost-cutting production manager" and a "roistering genius" "with the entirely unofficial rating of works manager" whose "hiring arrangement included an understanding that he could continue to sell machinery elsewhere with an organization of his own." During his rather short (20-month) tenure at the young company, he helped tremendously to orient its production operations toward the coming era of mass production. This included introducing the concepts of fixed monthly output and of transferring some of the carrying of parts inventories from the Ford company to its suppliers. It also included rearranging the layout of machine-tools in the plant with a view to the orderly sequence of operations. This work formed a foundation on which others at Ford would build as they spent the next five years (1908-1913) developing the concept of a true modern
assembly lineAn assembly line is a manufacturing process in which parts are added to a product in a sequential manner using optimally planned logistics to create a finished product much faster than with handcrafting-type methods...
.
Flanders left Ford Motor Company in April 1908 to co-found the
E-M-F CompanyThe E-M-F Company was an early American automobile manufacturer that produced automobiles from 1909 to 1912. The name E-M-F was gleaned from the initials of the three company founders: Barney Everitt - a custom auto-body builder from Detroit, William Metzger - formerly of Cadillac, and Walter...
, which was acquired by
StudebakerStudebaker Corporation, or simply Studebaker , was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers,...
in 1910. Later he founded the
United States Motor CompanyThe United States Motor Company was organized by Benjamin Briscoe in 1910 as a selling company, to represent various manufacturers. It had begun life as the International Motor Company in 1908 in an attempt to create the first major consolidation within the industry with Maxwell-Briscoe and Buick,...
, and he reorganised
MaxwellThe Maxwell was a brand of automobiles manufactured in the United States of America from about 1904 to 1925. The present-day successor to the Maxwell company is Chrysler Group.-History:...
after the fall of the United States Motor Company.
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