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...

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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
Alpine Team

Alpine Linear Saw 5.0: A New Standard in Small Parts Handling

Alpine Team

Building on the legacy of over two decades of proven reliability and precision, the latest version of the Alpine Linear Saw (ALS) continues Alpine’s proud tradition of innovation. Designed and engineered to optimize cutting and material handling workflow, the ALS introduces a key...

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October 2025
Issue #17315
Page 57
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...

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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...

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October 2025
Issue #17315
Page 82
Thom McAnally

Hiring-Zone.com: A New Platform Connecting Employers, Job Seekers, and Contractors in the Building Components Industry

The building components industry has always relied on people—skilled truss designers, estimators, plant managers, contractors, and subcontractors who understand the pace and complexity of modern construction. Finding those people, however, has often been a challenge. Generic job boards are...

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October 2025
Issue #17315
Page 104
Geordie Secord

Design Connections: Training vs. Experience: What Really Builds a Great Designer?

Geordie Secord

When it comes to building a strong component design team, there’s always a debate: is it better to hire someone inexperienced but with some formal training such as college or technical school, or someone with years of hands-on experience? The truth is, both matter—but not always in...

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October 2025
Issue #17315
Page 110
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,...

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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
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