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One July evening I was channel surfing and caught a commercial for some (stupid) movie debuting in the fall. They were highlighting cozy sweaters and falling leaves, while I wondered why anyone would be ready for autumn. Why should we be rushing to fall, and why are people always trying to rush...

A nearly perfect confluence of circumstances combined to create the truss plate in South Florida. The wartime home-building hiatus, the post-war baby boom, and the northward (from Cuba) and southward (snowbird) migration to Florida all combined to skyrocket the demand for new housing. But what...

In last month’s article, We’re ‘Not Slowing Down’ Until We Reach BCMC 2022, I talked about many of the reasons why you should come visit our Spida booth in September. This month, I’ll quickly remind everyone of some of the other reasons to attend this year’s...

As a change agent for lean manufacturing best practices, it is extremely satisfying when I see a company embrace best practices despite their challenges. Too often, it is stated, “we (I) cannot implement or do the suggested improvement practice because _____” from so many claiming to...

The development of the 4 x 2 floor truss system revolutionized the truss industry. Plating to the narrow edge of the chord members presented some issues, but all in all it allowed component fabricators another product offering, expanding their potential business. In the original designs, it was...

Finance Your Purchase Instead of Placing a Lump Deposit The supply chain disruptions in the economy present one of the more difficult aspects facing clients in the current economic environment. Clients are waiting up to one year to receive equipment, when in the past they have only had to...

In any industry, even ours, people make the difference. If one product or service in any industry was overwhelmingly better than another, there wouldn’t be a choice for very long. This is an example of entrepreneurial spirit and culture building in its very definition. Most people...

Just when you have calculated your traditional CapEx ROI saying “Yes,” you cannot pass “Go” until 2023 because your new machinery lead time is a year away.  Now what? Now you should prepare for it! Instead of focusing on the wait, get better organized before your...

The most common cause of downtime for an automated saw is a lack of lumber on the infeed conveyors. Feeding a linear saw can be a very labor-intensive process. Operators will fatigue and naturally slow down over the day and loading mistakes can cost a plant significantly in lost productivity....

When I was young, the last thing I wanted to hear from my dad was “you don’t have much to complain about, back in my day....” Whatever it was, I was sure it had been embellished. Mom was much simpler, “Because I said so”. As I got older, I started to realize they...