The concept: empower Chrysler Group's North American plants to more quickly respond to changing market demands while increasing facility utilization. His strategy: heavy investments in the latest robotic technology to power a new level of flexible automation with a greater emphasis on employee workplace culture and supplier relationships. The results easily translate into a competitive edge via a faster response to customer product needs and preferences. Since late 2003, Chrysler has invested billions of dollars in a flexible manufacturing initiative that will also increase quality, plant utilization and profitability while enabling a growing number of lower-volume nameplates. Consider the Chrysler initiative as a role model example for U.S. manufacturing, says Jay Baron, president, Center for Automotive Research. He says his current research on flexible manufacturing indicates the strategy can be an effective competitive tool across all manufacturing sectors.

Not only is LaSorda a car guy, he's also a manufacturing guy who came up from the manufacturing floor to become Chrysler Group's president and CEO. He knows cars and manufacturing and his team is leading a competitive synergism at Chrysler Group. Part of this team is Frank Ewasyshyn, executive vice president, manufacturing, and Peter Rosenfeld, executive vice president, procurement and supply.

In addition to developing more hot cars, such as the Chrysler 300 and the Dodge Magnum, LaSorda's team is backing them up with a manufacturing approach to shift production as rapidly as customer tastes gravitate from one Chrysler model to another. LaSorda says success today depends on how an automaker answers the following question: "When [a model] is hot today and in three years it's not hot anymore, how fast can I put another one in its place?" LaSorda recalls Chrysler's earlier years, when rapidly growing customer acceptance of models such as the LH and the Durango were stymied by the company's inability to produce them at other facilities. For models that do not turn out to be hot, a flexible manufacturing strategy offers the option of shifting production to other models, adds LaSorda.

Tom W. Lasorda, Chrysler President and CEO

While that kind of manufacturing flexibility sounds expensive, it's lowering production costs so much that LaSorda claims competitive reasons prevent him from disclosing the extent of the benefits. He does offer hints -- one being a 40% to 50% reduction in the cost of making dies for new vehicle programs.

As a competitive tool, Chrysler's flexible manufacturing initiative supports an aggressive product strategy. LaSorda says $30 billion is being invested in the product program over the next five years. That means a proliferation of new models. In February, at the Economic Club of Chicago, LaSorda noted that Chrysler Group will roll out 10 all-new products in 2006. "In the 82-year history of our company, we've never launched more vehicles in a single year."

The Flexible Journey

LaSorda told IW that his vision for flexible manufacturing accelerated when he headed manufacturing in Chrysler's powertrain operations. "I found we had all the technical knowledge on [flexible manufacturing], but I didn't see it evident in any of the plants to the degree we should have." The next step: goal setting with Ewasyshyn.

"It started with a simple question that almost sounds visionary now: How do we get flexibility without the constraints of hard tooling? We wanted multiple products to be built in every plant and the ability to swing product from plant to plant."

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