As we focus on our daily work tasks, it’s very easy (too easy) for us to forget how we’re simultaneously in an industry where we have not just colleagues but friends. We concentrate on specific projects and deadlines, blocking out distractions that could seemingly slow down our...

In the middle of the largest residential construction show in the world, wedged between estimating software and the kitchen and bath aisle, our small booth was focused on one question: where do structural components truly fit in the future of homebuilding? The International Builders Show...

In off-site manufacturing, change is inevitable. What is not inevitable is losing money because of it. The change order is not red tape. It is protection. It protects the company, the client, the project schedule, and even the salesperson who worked hard to land the job. Consider how a...

My December article, “What Does Scope Creep Look Like in Truss Design?,” talks about extra trusses quietly added, parapets suddenly included, and engineering tasks drifting onto your desk because someone else didn’t handle them. None of these start out as big asks. They usually...

When your team is set up right, performance takes care of itself. In manufacturing, it’s easy to assume better results come from pushing harder – longer shifts, tighter schedules, more pressure on the floor. But the highest performing plants know something different: real performance...

My March 2025 article, “Getting Up to Speed at Hundegger: The Future of Automation is Here,” outlined what I expected to be a pivotal year for Hundegger USA. In preparation for continued growth, we added two key team members: Sales Manager Carlos Lozano and Technical Sales Manager...

Pretty much everyone in manufacturing has heard the Toyota example. It’s often held up as the gold standard for quality and continuous improvement, especially the andon cord, which allows any worker to stop the line when something does not seem right. The familiar takeaway is quality...

I recently had the opportunity to visit Classic Truss and spend time with Marty Scott, Operations Manager, and Clarence Houk, Design Manager. It was one of those visits that reminds you how much this industry has changed, and how much of that change comes from steady, intentional progress rather...

If you’re a wood truss designer, you know one thing for sure: your workstation is where the magic (or the misery) happens. Long stretches of modeling, preparing quotes, reviewing digital plans, and generating production documents all happen at that desk. And while companies often focus on...

Simpson Strong-Tie, the leader in engineered structural connectors and building solutions, marked the grand opening of its newest manufacturing plant, located in Gallatin, Tennessee, with a ribbon cutting, celebration, and tours on Thursday, January 15, 2026. The 500,250-square-foot, $125...