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A few times in May, I have been asked if I would write my June column on the COVID-19 crisis. My answer has been, “I’m not sure.” Obviously, we all have many thoughts and feelings on the topic. We all are confronting the challenges in our lives each day. We all have strong...

One glaring gantry glitch, truss plates falling off, still needed to be addressed in the early 1990s. Missing bottom plates interrupt production, or worse, compromise quality. Sometimes an uneven table surface is the cause. But often the gantry mechanism is to blame. Tolerances are surprisingly...

Decades ago, I learned the value of a dollar as many of us did from our parents and grandparents. At that time, our industry was predominately family businesses. I don’t recall discussing age, however as we grow older, age is simply a number. That was never more evident in our family...

The largest expense in a truss plant’s operation is the lumber cost. It often represents 50% to 60% of the selling cost of the truss. With such a high percentage, most managers are always focused on saving lumber, optimizing lumber, and searching for the best price. Those aspects are...

Establishing a proper margin to maximize profits for your roof truss component sales is not as easy as most people think. Most do not have a clear understanding of how small changes make a significant impact on the company’s profitability. Making the most profits possible, no matter what...

As a team, we have been providing both in-person and virtual visits for all of our potential and current clients with projects underway. After a recent virtual training week, a company owner called me and told me how much he appreciated that I listened to his team and did not over talk or force...

As we continue our series on better tools for wall panel design, it’s time to explore our Edit Framing feature. In today’s industry, there are no easy jobs. Project complexity has increased steadily over the past several years. The need to be able to quickly review panels and edit on...

It’s official—Alpine’s new STITCHER software has the industry buzzing—and even a brief examination reveals why Preparing construction component projects for bidding and ultimately for scheduling and production can be difficult, time-consuming, and subject to input...

For many years, wood frame wall panels have been constructed on site by contractors, and, in more recent times, by component manufacturers too. The wall panels assembled by component manufacturers primarily are open panels. These consist of lumber studs at predefined centers sheathed externally...

It’s not every day that your delivery of wall panels takes you to the picturesque views of Pebble Beach in sunny California! In May, Pacific Wall Systems, Inc. in Central Point, Oregon was very pleased to be the supplier for Castro Construction and Phase 4 of the project, “Lodge...