Rouge: Pictured in Its Prime

Epilogue

EPILOGUE The period covered by this book (1917 to 1940) includes primarily the formation of the Rouge and its concentration on the manufacture of automobiles , trucks, and tractors. At the end of this period, focus quickly shifted to the manufacturing needs of the U.S. military during World War II. Ford Motor Company, including the Rouge Plant, became a major participant in the nation’s Arsenal of Democracy. Every division of the company became involved one way or another in government defense work. Edsel Ford was particularly assertive in leading the company during this massive transition. Defense contract work prevailed at the Rouge Plant from 1941 to 1945. During that period, there were several major additions, including a large aircraft engine plant, an armor-plate building, a magnesium smelter, a magnesium foundry, an aluminum foundry, and a naval training station accommodating 2000 students. Products such as aircraft engines, tank engines, jeeps, amphibians, military trucks, armored cars, and aircraft engine superchargers were built in quantity. During the war, however, soybean operations and cement production were shut down. Following the war, the aircraft engine plant, the armor-plate building, and the magnesium smelter were purchased from the government by Ford. By the end of World War II, Edsel Ford had died, Henry Ford was in ill health, and Henry Ford II became president of Ford Motor Company. With the arrival of Henry Ford II in 1945 and with the complete reorganization of the company, employee morale was greatly enhanced. A new era included better relations with the unions and such welcome employee benefits as annual vacations, unemployment compensation, and a generous pension system. Following the war, besides producing iron and steel, the Rouge did not have the central importance it once had. Its fleet of ships, with the exception of the ore carriers Henry Ford and Benson Ford, were sold in 1947. In November 1948, the third and largest blast furnace, named the William Clay Ford, began producing iron, and a new and larger Willian Clay Ford ore carrier was added in 1953. At least two reasons led to decentralization of the Ford Motor Company following World War II. Ford executives, some but not all, realized that a plant the size of the Rouge could be a prime target in a nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union, and its size was thus a disadvantage. In addition, it was acknowledged that efficiency of production required highly automated factories and that plants of single-floor construction were advantageous. Such plants required more acreage than was available at the Rouge. Dispersal of Rouge manufacturing was noticeable as early as 1949, when Ford tractor facilities were moved from the Rouge to Highland Park and soon after farther out to Troy, Michigan. By 1958, the company had spent $2.5 billion on expansion and modernization , but a relatively small amount was spent on the Rouge. Total company expansion was to include more than twenty new and modernized plants, such as foundries at Cleveland and Canton, Ohio, and at Flat Rock, Michigan; engine plants at Cleveland and Lima, Ohio, and at Windsor, Ontario; stamping plants at Buffalo, Chicago, and Cleveland; trans- 281 mission plants at Cincinnati and at Livonia, Michigan; and a glass plant at Nashville, Tennessee. In 1956, a new twelve-story Ford World Headquarters was erected on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn, about two miles from the Rouge Plant. This new building replaced the Rouge administration building which had served as Ford’s headquarters for thirty years. That same year, Ford Motor Company common stock was offered to the public. In steelmaking, however, the Rouge remained dominant within the company. By 1960, plans were under way to construct two giant basic-oxygen furnaces displacing the ten open-hearth furnaces. First tapped in March 1964, these giant basic-oxygen furnaces produced 250 tons of steel at 3500 degrees Fahrenheit in less than an hour using pure oxygen as fuel. In 1974, a new 68-inch hot strip mill was added. In December 1981, Rouge Steel Company was formed as a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. The Ford ore ships Benson Ford and Henry Ford II, as part of Rouge Steel operations, were sold during the 1980s. In 1986, a $145-million continuousslab -casting plant was added to Rouge Steel operations. The 181 coke ovens were abandoned in 1987, and coke needed for blast furnaces was purchased. In December 1989, Rouge Steel, occupying approximately 500 acres and operating equipment consisting primarily of blast furnaces, basic-oxygen furnaces...