Every spring, a few dozen of the most MSR-savvy minds in the industry gather for something refreshingly different from the typical industry conference. No sprawling trade show floor. No overwhelming schedule. No wandering through crowds of people you might never see again. Instead, the annual...

The Building Component Safety Information (BCSI) Guide stands as the structural building component industry’s comprehensive resource for best practices in handling, installing, restraining, and bracing structural building components. From safety messaging to critical installation details,...

A Word of Introduction from Ed Lim: Charlie Vaccaro liked to use last month’s cautionary tale, “A Fable for Our Time,” as a lead-in to a speech he gave many times when invited as a guest team building and motivational speaker at component manufacturer and lumber yard sales...

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...

Early design decisions have a lasting impact on how efficiently and effectively a building is constructed. By engaging the professionals who make those decisions, the structural building components industry can create better plans, stronger partnerships, and new opportunities for...

Early in my career, I had the opportunity to teach woodworking. For five years at North Carolina State University, I served as both a student and a faculty member within the University Student Center. I arrived with extensive knowledge of woodworking, and during my first week, I met two...

As we start a new year, many frame and truss manufacturers are focusing on a familiar challenge – how to support their teams, maintain output, and continue delivering a quality product in a labor market that’s tighter and more competitive than ever. While technology and automation...

As we enter 2026, with the excitement of the holidays behind us, we ask ourselves, what do we need to do to ensure that the best is yet to come? In reflecting on the start of another year, we have asked ourselves, what do we need to do to succeed? How can we do things better? How can we be...

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been 70 years in the making since eminent AI pioneer, John McCarthy, coined that term in 1955 to describe “the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior.” Truss software has been 50 years in the making, with scant penetration of AI...

I’ve been asked: do you always need a shop drawing or the engineering to inspect a truss? The quick answer if you are conducting an ANSI/TPI 1 Chapter 3 audit is that you must have a design drawing that specifies plate sizes, placement, and lumber grade requirements in addition to overall...