Charles E. Sorensen

Charles Emil Sorensen (7 September-1881-11 August, 1968) emigrated from Denmark to the United States with his parents when he was four years old.

Early career

He first worked as a surveyor's assistant, then apprenticed at the Jewett Stove Factory in Buffalo, New York as a foundry pattern maker and foundryman. In 1900, the family moved to Detroit, and while working at a foundry in Detroit, Michigan he met Henry Ford. In 1905 he accepted a job as a pattern maker at Ford Motor Company. By 1907 he was head of the pattern department. He was able to cut out parts to make prototypes using balsa wood.

Sorensen (with others, notably Clarence Avery and Peter E. Martin) is credited with developing the first automotive assembly line, having formulated the idea of moving a product (for cars, this would be in the form of the chassis) through multiple workstations. His innovations were widely applied to the mass production of complex products average people could afford.

On a Sunday in 1910, in the Piquette Plant, Sorensen and another Ford executive, Charles Lewis, tested his idea. Apparently, by the end of the day he had determined that moving a car in a straight line from one end of the factory to the other, with parts added along the way by specialized workers performing repetitive tasks (with the stockrooms also placed strategically along the line) was the most efficient and therefore cheapest way to build an automobile.

Later contributions

Sorensen was a major contributor to the launch of the Highland Park plant in 1910, where he was second in command to production chief Peter E. Martin. He then helped with the development of the Fordson tractor and modernization of Edsel Ford's Lincoln when purchased by Ford from Henry M. Leland in 1922. Following transfer of auto assembly to the Rouge in the late 1920s, he was a "key leader" in manufacturing as number two man to Peter (Ed ) Martin who was made Vice President of Manufacturing in 1924. He was manager of production planning and development. "Ed Martin, Plant Superintendent, and I practically lived at the Rouge". It has been said he considered himself the "Head of Production", and Henry Ford's "right-hand man" although he was only one of at least six company leaders claiming that distinction.

During the 1930s Sorensen was also responsible for production techniques allowing the manufacture of a sophisticated and powerful V-8 engine block from a single cast of iron, earning him the nickname "Cast-Iron Charlie". The Ford Flathead engine continued in production until the early 1950s; a derivative design was used in French military vehicles into the 1990s.

During the early 1940s Sorensen had responsibility for Ford's defense contracts, Ford's Jeep, aircraft engines and production of the B-24 Liberator bomber at Willow Run. Each was made up of 488,193 parts and they were turned out at a still astonishing rate of one per hour; previous production rate was one per day. (The current "Predator" drone production rate is one per year). He was knighted by the king of Denmark and made a member of the Order of the Dannebrog for his accomplishments.

During his career he was noted for his brilliance in organization and his hard-driving personality, and also for insensitivity to others and an explosive temper. My (Sorensen) notes show how the Ford industrial empire was kept intact, also, hard struggle to bring Henry Ford II to directioin of its destinies. After leaving the Navy, a 24 year old Henry Ford II joined company management as a vice-president on December 15, 1943. Sorensen, who had mentored young Ford, was not offered a major role by the younger Ford.He requested retirement in December 1943 to be effective January 1 1944 as previously agreed with Mr. Ford in 1941. His retirement was effective on March 13, 1944. He then accepted a position as president of automaker Willys-Overland, manufacturer of the Jeep, the forerunner of the SUV and the car called the "Willies" Roadster (a well-known dragster). Sorensen was vice-chairman from 1946-1953. Later Willys became American Motors Corporation (AMC). AMC was bought out by Chrysler and eventually merged with Mercedes-Benz forming DaimlerChrysler AG.

He retired in Florida and US Virgin Islands, had extensive land holdings in Cuba and died on August 28 1968 in Bethesda Naval Hospital, aka National Naval Medical Center in Maryland. He is buried in Miami Beach, Florida. He was preceded in death by his wife Helen (nee Mitchel) Sorensen and son Clifford Sorensen.

Sources

• Sorensen, Charles (1956) My Forty Years With Ford.
• Bryan, Ford R. (1993). Henry's Lieutenants. ISBN 0-8143-2428-2.
• Sorensen, Charles M. - Great Grandson
• Ohno, Taiichi (1988), Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production, Productivity Press, ISBN 0-915299-14-3

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