Joe Kannapell, PE

Home Building Technology, Part X: Competing Connectors

Joe Kannapell, PE

In multiple jurisdictions across the country, building code authorities questioned the viability of the curiously shaped metal plates being used on trusses during the last half of the 1950s. In South Florida, for example, four radically different looking plates appeared, with different...

#17315 Cover image
October 2025
Issue #17315
Page 10
Wendy Boyd

What If You Could Build Any Wall on One Line?

Wendy Boyd

Wall frame fabricators across North America are facing tighter timelines, fewer skilled workers, rising material costs, and increasing variation in project build types (from single-family homes to large-scale multi-unit developments). All of this comes while they strive to maintain quality and...

#17315 Cover image
October 2025
Issue #17315
Edmond Lim, P.Eng.

Three Options, No Waiting – The RetroC Auto-Feeding SmartConveyor

Edmond Lim, P.Eng.

More than 120 proud RetroC owners will tell you that the auto-feeding of lumber is the most powerful feature of the Enventek RetroC automated component saw. Auto-feeding is made possible with Enventek’s SmartConveyor integrated with the RetroC’s clamping material feed chains. To...

#17315 Cover image
October 2025
Issue #17315
Page 38
Jesse Southard

From Sketch to the Production Floor: How Prefabricated Construction Elements Become Reality with WEINMANN Machines

Jesse Southard

With my background working with woodworking manufacturers and the construction industry, I have always joked that a construction building is not that different from a cabinet: it is just a lot bigger and has many more parts and pieces that go into it. The truth is it is not that far from...

#17315 Cover image
October 2025
Issue #17315
Page 62
Jeff Brown

Solving the Skilled Labor Shortage: How Semi-Automated Equipment is Rebuilding the Construction Workforce

Jeff Brown

Panels Plus is helping companies do more with less — safely, consistently, and efficiently. The Construction Labor Crisis: Fewer Hands on Deck The construction industry is in the middle of a critical workforce challenge. According to the Associated Builders and Contractors...

#17315 Cover image
October 2025
Issue #17315
Page 82
Joe Kannapell, PE

Home Building Technology, Part IX: The Great Connector

Joe Kannapell, PE

Cal Jureit’s truss testing experience was but the first of three consequential steps that led him to invent the modern truss connector plate. Jureit’s second step was joining Truss Fabrications, Inc. (TFI), which furthered his knowledge of truss manufacturing, and focused his efforts...

#17314 Cover image
September 2025
Issue #17314
Page 10
Wendy Boyd

Truss Cutting Transformed: Integrated, Automated, and Labor-Light

Wendy Boyd

In today’s truss plants, the cutting stage plays a more critical role than ever. What was once predominantly a repetitive, manual task has become a central driver of speed, accuracy, consistency, and efficiency across the entire operation. [For all photos, See PDF or View in Full...

#17314 Cover image
September 2025
Issue #17314
Page 17
Edmond Lim, P.Eng.

Passive Lean Can Tame Lumber Chaos

Edmond Lim, P.Eng.

On a recent sailing expedition, I could not help but marvel at how a floating breakwater is a passive lean solution used to tame chaotic waves similar to how the Enventek Lumber PickLine tames the chaos in material handling. Both solutions are strategically designed to be simple, cost effective,...

#17314 Cover image
September 2025
Issue #17314
Page 40
Jamie Tait

From On-Site Craftsmanship to Off-Site Innovation: The Mindset Shift Transforming American Builders

Jamie Tait

The construction industry in the United States has begun undergoing a significant transformation. Traditional on-site building approaches, characterized by manual labor, weather dependency, and fragmented workflows, are giving way to a more innovative, efficient methodology: off-site...

#17314 Cover image
September 2025
Issue #17314
Page 66
Joe Kannapell, PE

Home Building Technology, Part VIII: The Engineering Advantage

Joe Kannapell, PE

Where is the best location to start a business — the easiest place or the toughest? Choosing the easiest means you may or may not “have what it takes” to succeed in the toughest markets. But, by choosing the toughest, you may “set yourself up” to market yourself...

#17313 Cover image
August 2025
Issue #17313
Page 10
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