One of York's more successful automakers was the Pullman Co. Pullman's motto was "Some cars cost more to buy; but no car costs more to build." This stands in striking distinction to Ford's vision of a low-cost, low-price, high-quality car. Henry Ford's vision took the industry in such a new direction that the automobile industry could not survive in York, PA, or in Auburn, IN, or anywhere else where people couldn't see the world the way Ford saw it.

Ironically, Ford's vision was not about money. Of course, he did not invest his wealth with no concern for getting it back. To Ford, profit was the by-product of the vision, not the fuel. Asking, "how can I make money fulfilling my vision?" is a very different question from "what vision will make me a lot of money?" The desire for profit alone never yields the sustaining greatness that Ford clearly attained. No; Ford wanted to change the world in a very particular way.

Henry Ford's search for a clear understanding of current reality is perhaps most clearly exhibited by his own research. Ford Motor Co. had many of its own laboratories. So did Henry Ford himself, who spent his free time with others who sought insight, such as Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone, who all studied together in winter laboratories in Fort Myers, FL.

Henry Ford's search for understanding was not just in science and industry, but took the same experimental approach when it came to business and people. He never assumed he had the answer. He did assume there was an answer and went in relentless search of it. A crystal-clear vision of what he could create combined with the endless curiosity of current reality created tension that allowed constant and multifaceted change, and a leap into the future.

Rediscovering Lean History

Ford's leap was so great that it was ahead of its time. So far ahead that, despite widespread adoption of a few of his ideasmost prominently the continuous assembly lineknowledge of many of Ford's contributions to manufacturing were actually lostat least to American and European manufacturers. This seems impossible to believe, but it is true.

Norman Bodek, founder of Productivity Press (New York), rescued Henry Ford's vision from oblivion during a trip to Japan. Bodek frequently toured Japan during the 1980s to seek out new ideas. He published the books of Taiichi Ohno and Shigeo Shingo in English helping to bring lean to North America.

On one trip to Toyota Motor Co. (Tokyo), Bodek noticed a book that frequently appeared on desks throughout Toyota City. "What is this?" he asked. "Henry Ford's Today and Tomorrow," was the answer. When Bodek returned to the United States, he promptly sought to acquire the title. Bodek was stunned to learn that the book had fallen out of print, a situation he quickly rectified.

Ohno makes it perfectly clear in his book, Toyota Production System, that the ideas contained in Today and Tomorrowideas that Ford actualized first at his Highland Park and River Rouge plantsare the foundation stones of the Toyota Production System.

There has never been a question that Henry Ford has made more contributions to the American automotive industry than any other single man or woman before or since. But, few have learned from the contributions of Ford so that the industry, and others, can continue to move forward.

Ford's vision was inherently linked to lean principles, such as the systematic elimination of waste. His experimentation and search for knowledge was relentless, even after he left many competitors trailing behind in his dust.

We are further forward today because others, such as Toyota's Taiichi Ohno, took Ford's accomplishments and built on them, moving forward toward the vision. It's a vision we have not yet reached; a vision where smooth and continuous work flow, waste-free operations and customer-satisfying products are the norm.

Vision alone is just a dream. Vision combined with a constant search for understanding and clarity creates tension. The result is progress. As the heirs to Henry Ford's extraordinary vision of progress, our job is to learn from the past and work toward the future. If that happens, perhaps people will be writing about our own generation's manufacturing visionaries 100 years from now.