They thought Henry Ford II wanted to eliminate them… but he really gave them new life.
After World War II, a period of prosperity and rapid industrialization began in the U.S.
Factories that previously churned out bombers and tanks to support the war efforts were reborn. They started producing everything from refrigerators to TVs to new cars.
But folks didn’t embrace all the changes of the post-war boom…
Workers at Ford’s factory in Detroit went on a 25-day strike in 1949. The strike paralyzed the assembly line. And it eventually involved more than 100,000 workers.
The striking workers left hundreds of half-finished Tudor sedans sitting on the factory floor.
Specifically, they hated Ford Motor President and CEO Henry Ford II’s plan to “automate” production. He wanted to add a modern stamping plant, two engine plants, and a foundry.
In other words, Ford wanted to use machines to make things more efficient.
Understandably, the idea of machines replacing human auto workers at the factory led to an “automation hysteria.” Practically everyone in the plant thought they would lose their jobs.
In reality… the opposite happened.
The automation machines made cars faster than Ford’s army of human workers. They could stamp, cut, weld, and spray paint faster – all without posing a risk to human health.
But the machines at the factory still needed human operators…
Someone had to move the cars from machine to machine throughout the assembly process. And the machines couldn’t tell on their own if they needed to speed up or slow down.
The machines also couldn’t tell if a bolt was out of place, a fender seemed out of shape, or if the paint was off. So when it came to ensuring quality, human workers were still essential.
After Ford introduced automation machinery, the company’s annual production more than tripled from 1948 to 1957. And at the same time, its workforce grew 46%.
In other words, Ford’s automation efforts didn’t eliminate the army of human workers. The surge in productivity instead meant the carmaker could scale its output many times higher.
Ford wasn’t alone, either. The “golden age” of the U.S. car industry is well known today…
Every major carmaker pushed to automate its assembly lines around the same time. And annual U.S. car production boomed from 3.5 million in 1947 to 6.1 million in 1957.
That was only the start of U.S. carmakers shifting to more automation, of course.
The industry now features nearly a third of all the country’s industrial robots. An average carmaker operates 200 to 300 robots dedicated to simple tasks like machining and welding.
And these days, robots can do a lot more than just put cars together…
The U.S. manufacturing industry reportedly has roughly 274 robot workers for every 10,000 human workers. That doesn’t sound like a huge number. But these robots have eliminated the human element from many mundane and repetitive tasks in the manufacturing process.
Put simply, we’ve come a long way from the early days of automation – when workers feared for their jobs. Yet today, those early arguments are more familiar than ever…
I’m sure you’ve heard some of the apocalyptic predictions about artificial intelligence (“AI”).
We’re now living in a new age of “automation hysteria.”
And well, I don’t have a crystal ball. So I can’t say exactly what tomorrow will bring.
But I do know one thing for sure…
The AI craze is creating a massive tailwind behind tech stocks in this market. And as always, I’ll be using the Power Gauge to find the best ways to capitalize.
Good investing,
Marc Chaikin
P.S. In fact, in this month’s Power Gauge Report, I recommended a market leader in automation…
The Power Gauge is “bullish” on this company today. And an exciting new product will soon propel it to massive growth. For investors like us, this opportunity could potentially lead to a 100% gain or better in the coming year.
Again, I shared all the details in the latest issue of the Power Gauge Report. But if you aren’t already a subscriber, you can claim instant access for a limited time at 75% off the regular price. Click here to get started.
