The Impact of Willys and Model T on the Modern Automobile and American Life
The impact of the Model T and it's close competitors such as Willys cannot be accurately quantified (although many will try). In a short time span, the assembly line was perfected for commercial manufacturing, the automobile brought a valuable travel resource to the masses.
Before the Model T and the assembly line designed to create it, the automobile industry built by employees working on a specific task and moving from vehicle to vehicle. This form of production slowed down the process of building automobiles, raised the price of the created vehicles, and made the automobile a toy only for the wealthy.
The idea for the assembly line style of production was derived from, of all places, the meat packing industry. After a visit to the Union Stockyard on the South Side of Chicago, Ford executive William C. Klann brought back the idea of workers remaining stationary while the product was taken from station to station.