Page 126 - 100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

CHRYSLER REINVENTS Z*17 NO LLDVNI3D43 33AI IVAO N NI 3 H 1
AUTOMOBILE DESIGN

Reeling from foreign competition and the inability
to get new products to market quickly enough,
Chrysler Corporation decided that it had to rein-
vent its product design operation. It developed the
$1 billion. Chrysler Technical Center (CTC). To
speed product development at the CTC, Chrysler created four
cross functional platform teams to develop new products: large
car, small car, minivan and jeep/truck. Representatives of each
of the functional departments, plus customers, were integrated
into the product development, manufacturing and marketing pro-
cesses. Finance was integrated into the loop, but the team was
charged with bringing the new model in within precise budgets.
Each team has its own floor in the CTC.

The CTC includes a manufacturing facility where prototype manu-
facturing processes can be developed at the same time that a new
car is being designed in order to speed manufacturing and im-
prove quality. The platform team works in conjunction with as-
sembly line workers to determine the best manufacturing pro-
cesses and procedures for the new models. This process innova-
tion is unique in the automobile industry.

Accompanying Chrysler's changes in product development have
been changes in management style, organizational structure, and
organizational culture. In concert, employees have been empow-
ered, the organization decentralized and a competitive culture
infused throughout the firm.

The results have been impressive. Chrysler's Viper sports car was
an instant success, as have been its new LH cars which include
the Dodge Intrepid, Eagle Vision, and the Chrysler Concorde, New
Yorker, and LHS models. Chrysler's stock has soared from a low
of $10.50 in 1991 to a high of $57 in the fall of 1993.

Sources: Brian S. Moskal, "Chrysler Polishes the Creative Wheel," Industry Week, March 16, 1992, pp.
40-42; and Peter M. Tobias and Shari Johnson, "Cluysler Harnesses Brainpower," Industry Week, Sep-
tember 21, 1992, pp. 16-20.

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