Fat Fender Garage builds and supplies high-performance custom parts and full restorations for classic Ford and Chevy trucks, blending vintage style with modern power.

"When we started with Arda... we were almost a year behind on fulfilling orders. Now our oldest order is 20 days old."

Adam Ward, Inventory Manager

The Challenge: When Growth Overwhelms Production

Thanks to soaring demand, Fat Fender's team grew from 50 to over 65 employees in just seven months, but their operational infrastructure was cracking under the pressure. This rapid scaling exposed deep-seated inefficiencies that resulted in a critical production bottleneck and an order backlog stretching nearly a year.

• 365+ day backlog in orders.
• 2 failed ERP implementations.
• 30% growth in team size in 6 months.

Solution: Empowering The Shop Floor With Arda

After two failed Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementations, the team was skeptical of new software. Fat Fender Garage implemented Arda's Kanban system, which combines the simplicity of physical cards with a powerful digital backend. This streamlined workflow eliminated a significant bottleneck and fostered a sense of ownership and reliability. The system's simplicity was a key factor in its success, allowing Fat Fender to adopt it incrementally without the complexity of an ERP.

"Everybody that I've talked to about it really likes how simple it is... once you get shown around... it was super easy to figure out. You can use it as little or as much as you'd like... it still works if you don't take full advantage of it."

Adam Ward, Inventory Manager

The Results: Momentum And Exponential Growth

• 95% reduction in order backlog.
• 5x increase in high-value builds.
• 0 stockouts.

"It gives the team a voice. Instead of just saying to their manager, 'Hey, I need this part,' and they go, 'Okay,' go back to their desk and forget about it for five days... They bring the card over to us, and we scan it, and then it gets right to the purchasing team."

Adam Ward, Inventory Manager

Team efficiency. Arda closed the communication gap between the shop floor and purchasing, eliminating guesswork, frustration, and stockouts all at once.

5x throughput increase. With streamlined operations, Fat Fender increased its kit throughput ($8k each) from one per week to five per week.

Drastic backlog reduction. The most significant outcome was the reduction of their order backlog from nearly a year down to just 20 days.