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... Read More October 2025 Issue #17315 Page 10
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... Read More October 2025 Issue #17315
Far More Than Simple Cost Saving with TDC Time Standards Used with Paragon and AppWright Todd Drummond Last month’s article, “Pure Online Magic with Paragon, TDC Time Standards, and AppWright Job Management,”introduced the new and powerful synergy of Paragon and AppWright, which includes the TDC time standards offering. TDC time standards (R.E., S.U., or Man-Hours based on time... Read More October 2025 Issue #17315 Page 28
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... Read More October 2025 Issue #17315 Page 38
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... Read More October 2025 Issue #17315 Page 62
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... Read More September 2025 Issue #17314 Page 10
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... Read More September 2025 Issue #17314 Page 17
Pure Online Magic with Paragon, TDC Time Standards, and AppWright Job Management Todd Drummond If you want to give your company a new competitive edge while reducing costs and improving profitability, then you’ll want to hear what TDC has connected using Paragon and AppWright. Coming this October at BCMC, find out how your company can reduce costs, improve your manufacturing... Read More September 2025 Issue #17314 Page 26
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,... Read More September 2025 Issue #17314 Page 40
Simplify Floor Plan Review Alpine Team Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is transforming design and project management workflows. By removing redundancies and automating tedious tasks, AI helps designers work faster. Reviewing architectural drawings, floor plans, and construction documents can be painful, and important changes... Read More September 2025 Issue #17314 Page 61