Richard Chow-Wah, vice president powertrain operations and powertrain product team leader at the Chrysler Group, said Aug. 5, 2002 that manufacturing will play a major role in the company's newly outlined vision. Moving forward, Chrysler Group manufacturing will run more efficiently, finding solutions for productivity gains and cost reductions, while continuing its focus on flexibility, said Chow-Wah. During a speech given at the 2002 Management Briefing Seminars at the Grand Traverse Resort, Chow-Wah explained that the entire manufacturing organization is involved in a transition to rethink production processes, eliminate unneeded tasks, and provide flawless execution on every level, to remain competitive. Chrysler Group's early efforts are showing a 7.6 percent productivity improvement already this year, more than cumulatively accomplished over the last five years, added Chow-Wah. By incorporating this total system approach, including design and engineering, the Chrysler Group no longer needs to build a new facility or re-tool an existing one to support a new product. By better using existing resources and standardizing manufacturing operations, the company will, for the first time, produce more than one product from a different platform in the same assembly plant. This new approach will be fully tested with the manufacturing launch of the 2004 Chrysler Pacifica, as the Pacifica sports tourer will be built alongside the Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country minivans at the Windsor (Ontario) Assembly Plant (Canada).