6 • Relentless Improvement: True Stories of Lean Transformation
Each builder knew the purpose of each tool and how to use it. Garage,
yard, and estate sales in the area always had a complement of these tools.
To this day, you can nd those tools if you care to take the time to look.
Even in the 1960s before materials requirements planning (MRP) and
enterprise resource planning (ERP) and all the other manufacturing
programs we have today, Chris-Cra had a part numbering system still
referred to today for replacement parts. ey even stamped part numbers
on the back of dierent wood parts on a boat! ey did a better job of
managing plant inventories than some of the most well-equipped plants
thirty years later.
In 1969, Chris-Cra closed the A ...