Invisible Bridge (1963)

[Music] [Music] [Music] foreign spee [Music] speech for speech [Music] fore [Music] forch foreign fore [Music] speee [Music] [Applause] [Music] whether Ford La Ford D or Ford Sito it is an international word and one of the few known the world over on every continent in every tongue and nearly every dialect Ford has a meaning to millions of Spanish-speaking Americans a Ford is affectionately known as L fordo and regardless of the number of cylinders the car is inevitably called oo after the first V8s which arrived in the 30s in Africa there are chants and folk songs about the mighty Fords which cross the belt in 1917 from the Klondike to Salon from tinin to Paris in the Indies and Iceland in Chicago east west north than South Ford tire tracks helped Stitch the world together they say that Henry Ford put the world on Wheels and made it smaller and perhaps he did but in the doing he created something equally important from the instant he looked across the Detroit River to Canada and pondered shipping and building cars beyond the United States Henry Ford began to build the invisible [Music] Bridge today that bridge extends around the world from the mighty Rouge Plant in Dearborne Michigan it spans 3,000 mil to dagam England and on to a major sale Center in Beirut it stretches from an assembly plant in Port Elizabeth South Africa to Toronto Canada and on to to Singapore from San dieago Chile to San Paulo to Mexico City the bridge extends from Copenhagen Oslo and Stockholm to mavo and it reaches from Athens to salsburg Austria it touches Alexandria Zur Anor Brussels and Jean VI PR the bridge Embraces the world and yet it has no physical dimensions there are no arches and cables to be counted in an ordinary sense and still a million people may cross over it each day at 700 a.m. Arnold hup steps onto the bridge and Ford vy's sprawling manufacturing plant in Cologne Germany there he takes his place with 24,000 workers who build nearly 300,000 Motorcars a year Arnold is a master die maker responsible for shaping The Jig that will guide precise cam shaft boring operations on a new town as engine his skill is measured to a th000 of an inch Arnold Huff is a veteran of 24 years in the cologne plant he is the product of a system which produces some of the finest technicians in the world each year scores of young apprentices are enrolled in the company's training program with patience and guidance these young people are educated as technicians for [Music] tomorrow about 4,000 mil Southwest of cologne James OD begins his workday on the bridge there he joins some 250 fellow workers on the assembly line in southern rhi with less than a Year's experience in the sometimes confusing world of machines James OD has quickly adapted to his job and each day he takes a giant step in knowledge and understanding almost 8,000 mil to new truck to an alfalfa farmer in Michigan and drives onto the bridge Bob was born on a farm near here he knows farming and he knows the people he learned the automobile business from his father who opened a dealership here over 30 years ago Bob is manager now and is one of five salesmen and 31 employees serving the needs of this small North American [Music] Community Flavio Gomez D Silva is from Bahia Brazil he journeyed South more than 600 miles to find work he founded in the Perez Rubber Factory in the outskirts of s Paulo [Music] he operates a roller which processes rubber for radiator hose and floor mat the finished products are sold to Ford Brazil's new manufacturing plant a few miles away Flavio de Silva and his 117 fellow workers also stand on the bridge this bridge is a relationship between people of the world different as only humans can be with Customs cultures and languages strange to each other they are bound together by the work they perform they are dependent upon each other and the common Enterprise which brings them day by day closer to each other they stand separately independently and yet United on this invisible Bridge Flavio de Sila has many k man there are over 2 million citizens of more than 100 countries engaged in supplying the raw materials and parts to build Ford products there are more than 270,000 Arnold Hops and James od's building and assembling these products in 19 countries and like Bob Bey another 200,000 dealer employees provide transportation in more than 200 countries and territories of the world more than 2 and A5 million people building and selling Ford products standing on a bridge of international Commerce stretching around the world how did it grow it started with a need for transportation the world wanted Automobiles and Henry Ford could deliver them economically at first a few cars were shipped abroad from the United States Ford dealers and sales companies began to appear in the capitals of the world and soon the dream of lowcost mechanical Transportation spread to people on every continent but the need was greater than the young company could Supply from a single source so out of necessity and opportunity came growth and Pioneers from many countries joined hands to sweep away the horse and carriage the ox cart and the Rickshaw Gordon McGregor the manager of a wagon plant in Canada wanted to build automobiles and a Cornerstone was laid for a Ford assembly plant and a span of the invisible bridge between the USA and Canada a young Englishman named Perry wrote a letter to Henry Ford and invited him to visit England and from the invitation Ford of Britain was born an assembly planned in an abandoned theater in s Paulo a small Factory in Ireland a dealer in Jamaica another in India still another in Iran and so the bridge grew in a few short years Ford was in business around the world and out of the grow a network of related companies to serve a World Market a world that that is Awakening to its [Music] potential Europe once a checker board of national boundaries and age-old suspicions has become a community of Nations working together for Mutual benefit Latin America with many new Industries on the Move holds a bright promise for future combined markets and an increasing share of World Trade in Africa new nations are taking First Steps toward industrial growth and economic freedom and in a significant way and international corporation operating through its Affiliated companies can become an instrument of this Awakening a worldwide Enterprise contributes to progress wherever it goes so long as it remains competitive it can create jobs and develop new skills it can multiply individual efforts and provide a mechanism for Rapid development James OD was born in a crawl built from mud and wle his family lived by growing mes and sweet potatoes there are some who would say James OD D was happier then but James OD D does not agree the Ford assembly plan in Salsbury offered him a chance to earn a living to de velop a skill and to stand with pride the crawls are disappearing from Southern Ria not just because of one small assembly plant but because industry radiates to supply the Ford Redan plant other small factories and shops have sprung up and still others will [Music] follow multiply progress in rodesia many times and you begin to see the effect of an international corporation can have on other developing [Music] countries by contrast Western Germany is highly industrialized its economy surges to the rhythm of heavy manufacturing and here too the bridge provides a pathway for Progress the bru Foundry a few miles outside of cologne produces some of the finest castings in Europe some of the processes used in this modern Metal Works were developed with the assistance of Ford Engineers 3,000 miles away in the Rouge Foundry today the bru Foundry employs over 1,000 men and supplies castings not only to Ford's cologne plant but to other automobile makers as well Hands Across The Sea extended in Friendship have helped economic growth in Western Germany the story of the bru Foundry is not an exception rather it is part of a fundamental equation an international corporation lives by its ability to exchange methods and ideas between people the solution to a paint spraying problem in Africa may be applied to a similar problem in Mexico and perhaps 3 months later accomplish the same thing in Finland the time-saving suggestion of a mechanic on the assembly line in Toronto can result in increased production in South America or in Germany this is the invisible bridge at work because of its size Ford can maintain vast facilities dedicated to research to exploring new directions in Science and Industry in California Ford physicists are unlocking the secrets of space that may one day help to put a man on the [Music] moon in another Ford research laboratory a plastic heart is being probed by a new kind of medical instrument that may save human lives on every continent at the engineering center in dearburn a vehicle without Wheels riding on a thin film of air revolves endlessly in a circular experiment this may be the beginning of a new concept of Rapid Land Transportation these are projects perhaps years away from practicality but from this kind of advanced research come new ideas new materials that are helping today to build products around the world materal materials ideas and sometimes people cross the bridge every day Alfred bass is acquiring a taste for American hot dogs two years ago he had the same experience with smorgus board in Scandinavia in a few months he will return to his native food in Belgium and his job with Ford international to the Ford dealers of Michigan he brings the experience gained from working with dealers throughout Europe Al bass is part of a plan that allows for dealers to share the experience of others and better serve the transportation needs of their countries bill burus was never a citizen of Venezuela Caracus was only a temporary home for it took only 18 months for him to train the Venezuelan technicians who who will be responsible for many of the key operations in the new Ford plan bill burkus is one of a group of technical experts who travel the world troubleshooting production problems and training local engineers and mechanics at new Ford [Music] facilities he is a Vanishing American who brings with him experience and knowledge and leaves them behind when his job is done unlike burkus Ford Motor Company is a citizen of Venezuela and Switzerland and Malaya Ford is a conscientious citizen of every country in which it operates a law abiding taxpaying citizen contributing substantially to the economy and progress of each Nation each year Ford Italiana returns more than 6 million l in taxes to the Italian government government Ford Motor Company of Canada spends more than $140 million a year with supplier companies within the Canadian borders students and universities the world over receive more than a million each year in assistance from Ford companies in payroll alone Ford of Britain moves more than 55 million pounds a year into the economy of the United [Music] Kingdom translated into simpler terms follow the pounds in Brian Young's pay [Music] envelope there are more than two million Brian youngs on Ford's invisible Bridge a bridge that transcends language customs and differences a bridge that brings them together a Salesman in Austria sells an automobile and a power shovel operator in Argentina begins to push back the red clay for a new Warehouse a dealer in New Zealand fills an order for a car and an Australian assembly worker is paid to help build it the office girl in England would have difficulty talking to the secretary in Uruguay and it is doubtful the metal worker in Malaya will ever meet the Ford mechanic in Helsinki and yet they are all related to each other by a grand design of international business they are neighbors in a world growing together on an invisible Bridge called Ford Motor [Music] Company I am Henry Ford second all of us who stand on the invisible Bridge share a deep satisfaction it is the knowledge that together we are more than just a business we are a giver as well as a receiver we are a giver of knowledge of skill of Technology we are a reservoir of practical cooperation and better understanding among people we serve the rising aspirations of mankind everywhere for a life that is richer and more secure in material things but more importantly for a life lived in dignity freedom and decency this is our pride and we are not alone a thousand other bridges of Enterprise span the Earth they bring hope to free men everywhere and to those who would be [Music] [Applause] free [Music] the