I went on a tour to the Ford Rouge Assembly Plant. This tour gave us a lot of information on the assembly of the automobile and the history of how the automobile had originated. I found this tour to be very interesting, in the fact that I have never seen a car be assembled on an assembly line, as they had done right before my eyes on this tour. The technology based experience on this tour was amazing, from the basic frame of the automobile to the finished product at the end. I learned that from 1917 to 1925, Henry Ford built a revolutionary manufacturing complex on the banks of the Rouge River in Dearborn, Michigan. A marvel of modern engineering, the Rouge turned raw materials into completed automobiles at one site. Ford's "vertically integrated" approach became respected as the manufacturing model for the first industrial revolution. At its peak in the mid 1930s, the Rouge employed 100,000 workers.
English: Fair Lane, Henry Ford Estate, Dearborn, D...
Aerial view of the Ford River Rouge plant near Dea...
Interior of the Ford River Rouge tool & die factor...The storied history of the complex is filled with drama, including the beginnings of unionization, great successes, tragic losses, an era of decline due to increased network manufacturing processes, and now, some 80 years later, a time of rebirth.
The first thing you notice inside the center is a massive mural, displayed above the entrance to The Legacy Theater. It depicts the life of the center across the decades and honors the generations of people who made the Rouge an icon of 20th century manufacturing. Los Angeles artist John Watkiss created the artwork, capturing the spirit of the great muralist Diego Rivera, whose masterpieces documented the Rouge plant during its early years. The first stop after entering the center is Station One: The Legacy Theater, which chronicles the story of the Rouge. Its three screens transport visitors into the factories...