Grand Cherokee
Originating in 1983, the Jeep Grand Cherokee was being modeled to be the successor to the smaller Jeep Cherokee. The American Motors Corporation began development for the Jeep Grand Cherokee by 1985 and created the process now known as the "product life cycle management." This process allowed for the smallest American automaker find a method to enhance production speed in order to compete better against their competitors. Being aided by computer-aided design software systems allowed for engineers to be more productive and new communication systems allowed for conflicts to be resolved faster, therefore reducing costly engineering changes. This system proved to be so incredibly effective that Chrysler bought American Motors Corporation and expanded the system as to connect everyone involved in the design and building. This made the Jeep Grand Cherokee the first Chrysler-badged Jeep product and made Jeep very eager to begin production, but due to a push for a redesigned Chrysler Minivan, pushed the release until late 1992.
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