Jim,
Your "board" was in the Purchasing Department of Kaiser-Frazer at Willow Run. Items on the boards (there was more than one at any given time after mid-1947) showed parts that the company would entertain competitive quotes on from capable vendors. It is one of the tools that Leo (L.S.) MacKay and others used to try and reduce parts prices as the vendors supplying the items knew that they might be undercut if the quality and delivery was consistent with the existing source.