Henry Leland & Precision Manufacturing

Someone that Ought to be Remembered

“It doesn’t cost as much to have the work done right the first time as it does to have it done poorly and then hire a number of men to make it right afterward” – Henry Leland as reported in The Automobile in America

One would ask “who is Henry Leland and why is he important?” and very few people would be able to answer these questions today. Although other names like Henry Ford and Karl Benz ring more bells, Henry Leland has also played an important role in the early days of the automobile. Apart from a list of innovations that he helped create, he also founded two car brands that are still active today: Cadillac and Lincoln. While Ford is recognized for popularizing chain assembly, a key improvement of industrialization, Leland should be credited for bringing precision manufacturing and standardization to the automotive field.

In Short, What is Precision Manufacturing?

Precision manufacturing is the manufacturing of a product to precisely, accurately and constantly conform to the measurements of the design. The units are made with enough precision that they become interchangeable. This is achieved through the use of costly precision machines that replace the work of artisans and craftsmen. Today, precision manufacturing is widespread in many industries like medical engineering, and aerospace technology, but automobile manufacturing remains its biggest market. 

In the context of early automobile manufacturing, artisans, engineers and mechanics would all work together to make parts that would then be assembled. The craftsmanship of early cars would make every car unique. To produce cars in series, a certain level of standardization is required. This is achieved by using precision machines that are costly to develop. Once such a machine is well calibrated, it can produce parts faster, cheaper and with more accuracy than an artisan would. 

For example, if a design requires nuts and bolts of a certain size to fit together, and the production requires thousands, or even millions, of these nuts and bolts, it is beneficial to produce them as close to the required size as possible. If you only require a couple of pairs, you can adjust their diameter as needed. But if half of a thousand nut and bolt combos weren’t produced precisely, then they become useless, which results in a loss of money, time and resource. It is then better to make an investment in precision tooling and to take the time to build them right in the first place.

How did Leland get into cars?

Henry Martyn Leland had humble beginnings and came to the automotive field later in life. Born in 1843, in Vermont, he started working at age eleven, gluing soles for a shoemaker and later becoming a machinist apprentice. Throughout his career, he learned the importance of precision manufacturing, first manufacturing guns with Samuel Colt and then working at Brown & Sharpe, a manufacturer of precision machine tools like sewing machines and hair clippers.

In 1890, Leland and his family moved to Detroit to open his own company, with the financial backing of Robert C. Faulconer. At the time, Detroit, and automobile manufacturing in general, was not yet acquainted with the benefits of precision manufacturing. Leland and Faulconer first specialized in precision gear making, but later produced complex products like steam and internal combustion engines. The firm’s introduction to the automotive field happened through their work for Ransom E Old., who was producing the curved dash Oldsmobile. They manufactured transmissions and redesigned an engine for Old. 

In 1902, as a respected businessman, he was hired by William Murphy to appraise for liquidation the Detroit Automobile Company, Henry Ford’s second failed attempt at car mass production. (It would take Ford three attempts to get his dream off the ground: Ford Motor Company was born the next year.) Auditing the factory and the lightweight car bodies already manufactured by Ford, Leland convinced Murphy of the viability of the car project, suggesting to use engines already produced by Leland and Faulconer. Thus was born the Cadillac Automobile Company, with Leland at its head. 

Cadillac: The Standard of the World

For Cadillac, Leland strictly applied principles of precision manufacturing that he had learned throughout his life. He was known to walk around the factory and monitor production, not shy to throw away parts that did not conform to his high standards. The first Cadillac, made with the leftover Ford bodies (strongly resembling Ford’s Model A) and fitted with an engine and parts from Leland and Faulconer, looked good and reflected Leland’s reputation for quality. In 1903, its first appearance at the New York Automobile Show secured orders for over 2,000 units, which was qualified as “sold out.” 

Not only did it appeal to the public, but it also soon proved its worth internationally. As a publicity stunt, and to test the value of interchangeable parts, Cadillac sent three Cadillacs to perform a standardization test sponsored by the Royal Automobile Club in England in 1908. There, they were fully deconstructed, the color-coded parts dismantled and shuffled, with some stock parts thrown in the mix, before being rebuilt. All three cars were easily rebuilt and started without a glitch, running five hundred miles without breaking down, proving to the world the successful standardization of their parts. This earned Cadillac the Dewar trophy, and the slogan “Standard of the World.”

From then on, Cadillac made a point of using standardized parts, a result of precision manufacturing on all its models, often using the same parts on several models. This made Cadillac cars easy to maintain with replacement parts readily available, and cheaper to produce. Cadillac became a member of the General Motors corporation in 1909, and Leland’s standardization principles trickled down to the other GM brands.

What Now?

Much, much more can be said about Leland and his contribution to the development of the automotive field, not least of which is his role in the creation of Lincoln, yet another luxury American car brand that still survives to this day. By implementing his strict precision manufacturing in every project he ran, he contributed to the advancement of the automotive field in Detroit. From its inception, Cadillac became a leader in the industry, a position it maintained even after Leland quit in 1917. Next week, we look at the 1928 Cadillac 341-A, a car that brought its own wave of innovation.