Is Plate Substitution the Most Common Error By Confused Truss Builders? Glenn Traylor Generally speaking, ANSI/TPI 1 makes common sense and is very logical. However, there are several items that can be a little confusing because they seem to defy logic. When we upgrade lumber per ANSI/TPI 1 Section 3.4.2, we know that lumber strength needs to be maintained in order to meet the... Read More May 2025 Issue #17310 Page 39
Design Connections: What You Learn on the Floor Geordie Secord My introduction to the world of wood trusses didn’t begin in the air-conditioned comfort of an office. Instead, I started out building trusses, spending my days walking in circles around a C-clamp press. I had taken the job as a summer student, hoping to make money for university. In... Read More May 2025 Issue #17310 Page 126
Stay Connected and Analyze Data with Ease Alpine Team IntelliSheets and dashboards enhance team collaboration and decision-making. Real-Time Access to Critical Job Data Alpine continues to innovate with the latest enhancements (24 series) to IntelliSheets, offering real-time access to job details, item information, and status history through... Read More May 2025 Issue #17310 Page 133
Multiple-Ply Girder Load Distribution Change in ANSI/TPI 1-2022 MiTek Staff Girder trusses are trusses specially designed to carry extra load from tie-in trusses and equipment. If a single ply is insufficient to carry the entire load, the truss designer specifies a multiply girder, that is made of identical trusses and fastened together to act as one unit to support the... Read More May 2025 Issue #17310 Page 138
Viewing Project Details Just Got Easier Simpson Strong-Tie Staff Simpson Strong-Tie’s Component Solutions® Director™ software creates an audit trail of user changes and displays this information on the History Tab for each project you are working on. The following historical Information displays when you click the History Tab: Pricing... Read More May 2025 Issue #17310 Page 146
Standards of Performance for Manufacturing and Their Role in Annual Reviews Manufacturing operations rely on efficiency and accuracy. But is that limited to the literal manufacturing process only, or can companies take the same logical approach to evaluating all aspects of employee performance? A well-defined set of Standards of Performance ensures employees... Read More April 2025 Issue #17309 Page 114
Design Connections: Fewer Inspections = Better Quality? Geordie Secord “What do you mean you are stopping the QC inspections?” I could not believe what the operations manager was telling me when it was decided that we would no longer have each truss inspected at completion. Our truss company had always prided itself on delivering the highest quality... Read More April 2025 Issue #17309 Page 124
Hand Calculations for Maximum Gravity Reaction on Truss Design Drawings Alpine Team Building engineers rely on maximum gravity reactions (R+) from Truss Design Drawings (TDD) to design structural components. These maximum reactions are calculated based on load combinations specified by building codes, representing the highest downward forces which allow engineers to determine... Read More April 2025 Issue #17309 Page 131
Using Truss Self-Weight Simpson Strong-Tie Staff A benefit of using Simpson Strong-Tie’s CS Truss Studio™ is managing the relationship between the truss self-weight and the dead load. Truss self-weight is checked against all applied dead loads to verify that there is enough assumed “extra” dead load to account for the... Read More April 2025 Issue #17309 Page 148
Leadership in Challenging Times Todd Drummond As the competition gets more aggressive and the markets have slowed, your company’s sales are inevitably slowing, and margins are dropping. Let us face the fact that these are now becoming challenging times, and leaders must face these challenges in a healthy way. Whether you are a line... Read More March 2025 Issue #17308 Page 28