Joe Kannapell, PE

Home Building Technology, Part VIII: The Engineering Advantage

Joe Kannapell, PE

Where is the best location to start a business — the easiest place or the toughest? Choosing the easiest means you may or may not “have what it takes” to succeed in the toughest markets. But, by choosing the toughest, you may “set yourself up” to market yourself...

#17313 Cover image
August 2025
Issue #17313
Joe Kannapell, PE

The Last Word: Finding Your Place in a Great Industry

Joe Kannapell, PE

Touring two plants in July, I couldn’t help wondering which would be a better place to work in the current slowdown. Both are privately owned businesses that are being managed by second-generation owners. Plant “A” is in a stable, rust belt market, and plant “B” is...

#17313 Cover image
August 2025
Issue #17313
Page 176
Joe Kannapell, PE

Home Building Technology, Part VII: Carol Sanford’s Quantum Leap

Joe Kannapell, PE

Carol Sanford came of age during the 1920s, inspired by his inventive father, during one of the most inventive periods in American history. He grew up in Canton, OH, then a center of steel and stamping industries. After graduating from the University of Cincinnati and an architectural school in...

#17312 Cover image
July 2025
Issue #17312
Page 10
Joe Kannapell, PE

The Last Word: Discovering Excellence in Germany

Joe Kannapell, PE

In late May, I was fortunate to travel to Germany on a quest to discover processes that could advance the state of the art of component manufacturing. Driving 90 miles from Munich’s 6 million people, I passed several quaint villages with businesses bordering the Autobahn, each separated by...

#17312 Cover image
July 2025
Issue #17312
Page 170
Joe Kannapell, PE

Home Building Technology, Part VI: The Original Wood Truss Manufacturers

Joe Kannapell, PE

Although last month’s article in this series, “Home Building Technology, Part V: Early Truss Connection Innovators,” brought our story up to the post-war time period, we would be remiss without acknowledging the original truss manufacturers in greater detail. A small group of...

#17311 Cover image
June 2025
Issue #17311
Page 10
Joe Kannapell, PE

The Last Word: Knowing When to Hold ‘Em

Joe Kannapell, PE

Nearly 20 years after the Tibbetts family sold Cox Lumber to Home Depot, a crowd of onlookers gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking of Tibbetts Lumber’s soon-to-be largest truss plant, which will be located in Zephyrhills, Florida. This event demonstrated the on-going confidence of...

#17311 Cover image
June 2025
Issue #17311
Page 170
Joe Kannapell, PE

Home Building Technology, Part V: Early Truss Connection Innovators

Joe Kannapell, PE

Three midcentury forces converged to form the truss business we know today. First came the deluge of demand for affordable housing after World War II. Then came the prefabbers who addressed that need with trusses. And finally came the connector that made trusses into a blockbuster...

#17310 Cover image
May 2025
Issue #17310
Page 10
Joe Kannapell, PE

The Last Word: No Better Job, No Better Industry

Joe Kannapell, PE

We are fortunate to work in this great industry and to have many ways to give back to our communities. We were given a reminder of that on April 8, 2025, at a very important dedication. We felt the excitement as we entered the crowded shell of what will become the Langetree Community Center...

#17310 Cover image
May 2025
Issue #17310
Page 176
Joe Kannapell, PE

Home Building Technology, Part IV: The $6,000 Question

Joe Kannapell, PE

Unions opposed it, builders dismissed it, but the American homebuyer would embrace prefabricated housing as soon as they could afford it. Despite fierce opposition, the government made it a reality by allowing FHA financing on prefabricated homes with loans of $6,000 or less. In announcing this...

#17309 Cover image
April 2025
Issue #17309
Page 10
Joe Kannapell, PE

The Last Word: Material Handling, Saw to Table

Joe Kannapell, PE

What’s inside your home today, and what will be on top of your house in the future, was or will have been handled by Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs). These are the small under-riding robots that carry all sorts of items from point A to B in plants or warehouses, eliminating manual...

#17309 Cover image
April 2025
Issue #17309
Page 176
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