Walter Flanders

Walter Emmett Flanders (March 4, 1871 – June 18, 1923) was an American industrialist in the machine tool and automotive industries and was an early mass production expert.

Recognized as an expert in the field of machine tools,[4] in 1905 he obtained a contract to produce 5,000 crankcases for Henry Ford.

[9][10] This work formed a foundation on which others at Ford would build as they spent the next five years (1908–1913) developing the concept of the modern assembly line.

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson consulted with Flanders and other automobile industry leaders, including Henry Ford, William C. Durant, and John Dodge to determine the best methods for producing vehicles to equip the U.S. military for World War I. Flanders played a role in the Rickenbacker Motor Company, founded in 1921.

Flanders died in Newport News, Virginia, on June 18, 1923, as the result of complications following a car accident in which he'd been involved three days earlier.

From 1916's The Romance of the Automobile Industry
1911 Flanders 4 motorcycle on display at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum , Birmingham, Alabama. The single-cylinder motorcycle had a displacement of 483cc.