The Expanded and Annotated My Life and Work

Waste Is the Primary Barrier to Production and Service
It is important to recognize all forms of waste, and Ford cites the example 
of the cost of transporting coal to the Mississippi Valley. In this case, use 
of readily available hydroelectric power for heat is more cost-efficient. The 
most important lesson is, however, the need to identify and remove all 
forms of waste.
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It is not that the industrial enterprises are unable fairly to distribute a share of 
the wealth which they create. It is simply that the waste is so great that there is 
not a sufficient share for everyone engaged, notwithstanding the fact that the 
product is usually sold at so high a price as to restrict its fullest consumption.
Take some of the wastes. Take the wastes of power. The Mississippi Valley 
is without coal. Through its centre pour many millions of potential horse-
power—the Mississippi River. But if the people by its banks want power or 
heat they buy coal that has been hauled hundreds of miles and consequently 
has to be sold at far above its worth as heat or power. Or if they cannot afford 
to buy this expensive coal, they go out and cut down trees, thereby depriving 
themselves of one of the great conservers of water power. Until recently they 
never thought of the power at hand which, at next to nothing beyond the 
initial cost, could heat, light, cook, and work for the huge population which 
that valley is destined to support.