Castaing followed the example that was used in AMC's old Amtek technical research and product development center in Detroit. The use of these platform teams at Chrysler was first suggested by Castaing, it was the automaker's President, Robert Lutz who understood the potential of this change and had the leadership power to make it happen. Castaing realigned Chrysler's 6,000-member engineering structure into teams working on a single platforms. Lutz and Castaing reorganized their departments into AMC-style teams. Castaing also incorporated the use of simultaneous engineering. This team-management approach took shape in the late 1980s. The cross-functional teams for each vehicle were organized across all facets of company and supplier operations in bringing out new products. "I am a firm believer that teams are the way to improve," said Francois Castaing, vice president for vehicle engineering and a prime mover behind Chrysler's platform-team structure. Bob Lutz described Castaing as a great engineer who was outcome-oriented (versus process-oriented) and passionate with enthusiasm that inspired others. Lutz further reported that he is "exceptionally good constantly doing things that were accepted by the system as being impossible... he loved challenges."