Boat trailer maker scuttles wet paint in favor of powder
When Tracker Marine built a plant to increase boat trailer production, it scrapped a floundering wet-paint system and charted a new course with powder. The switch has netted the company a better finish, higher worker morale, and faster production than ever before.
Before Tracker Marine entered the boating industry in the early 1970's, boat dealers typically cobbled together their own combinations of boat, motor, trailer, and controls. But then Bass pro Shops, the Springfield, Mo., parent company of Tracker, hit on the idea of selling boats in a package, with all the items that anglers required installed at the factory. At first, the boat packages were sold only through Bass Pro Shops' catalog, but they soon became so popular that Tracker was spun off as a sister company to service a network of boat dealers that today numbers more than 200.