... made on 'moving assembly line techniques operated with semi-skilled labour of the mass worker' (Fulcher & Scott 1999:528). He applied his ideas to the production of the famous Model T, breaking overall production process down to hundreds of smaller and specialised tasks and thus lowering costs and raising profits. Workers were discouraged from interacting on the factory floor and pay was minimal. In the short term such profit-maximising theories were seen to be revolutionary and completely sustainable, however there were major problems with Ford's underestimation of the diversity of consumers. The machinery used was not updated and so became almost obsolete when faced with competition from newer companies. So too did the standardisation of the product itself as the Model T became a victim of its own success when the consumer market became over saturated and consumers no longer desired the same car as their neighbours and friends. One of ...

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