It was great to see everyone back at the BCMC show this year in Omaha. Seeing all the familiar faces reminds us all how tight knit our industry is, especially after missing last year due to Covid. It felt like a typical annual family gathering with some relatives you talk to on a regular basis who you love to see in person, some family you only see once a year but enjoy catching up, and of course the odd whacky Uncle and crazy Aunt thrown into the mix!
Thanks to everyone who visited the Spida booth this year – we hope you were impressed with our displayed product lines. [For photos, See PDF or View in Full Issue.] The uncertainty around Covid and “life as we know it” made the show floor quite a bit smaller for Spida Machinery, but we were still able to showcase our diverse range while emphasizing that we have something for every facet of the industry – roofs, floors, and walls.
Something new to our range this year is our Mini-series of platen presses. We brought the Mini 8 to the show and it drew a lot of attention. With its 40’ length and 40 ton press, it was hard to miss in our booth – and these specs in combination with our Wegit pucks makes jigging and pressing plates a breeze. Also available in 10’ and 6’, this press is ideal for building small trusses, jacks, and other small one-offs so you don’t have to bog down your main build tables. Competitively priced, we are looking forward to having these in many plants across North America.
Our Sprint range of ink jet printers for wall panels was represented this year by the S600 system. This square cut, pop up saw combined with an innovative automated clamping system and industry-leading optimization software is a must for any panel shop looking to quickly and efficiently cut and mark wall panel components. The range also includes the M600, which has the same features except combines rotation and the Sprint Zero, which is designed to be used with an upcut saw. The system can also be customized to add to an existing manual saw or fitted to your existing Spida saw to add wall panel cutting and marking to your Apollo or CSS truss saw (generation permitting).
The one piece of equipment we did not bring this year and was asked about more than most was the wall extruder. Featuring heavily in our floor plans of years past, we did not realize how sorely this machine would be missed – but we promise to have one at next year’s show. The extruder is the center piece and work horse of the Spida wall panel line, and there is nothing else at our price point in the market that consistently produces quality, accurately built walls with a high emphasis on safety with the minimum amount of labor required.
At the other end of the Spida wall panel line is our ever-evolving Spida Sheather. With truly autonomous, file-driven operation, tack your sheets in place, press go, and the machine does the rest –ejecting the completely sheathed wall to be stacked at the end of the line. The fixed bridge allows us to grab the stud being nailed under the wall, pulling any bows out and preventing shiners. Rotating tilting guns allow us to skew-nail horizontal seams in one pass, as well as nailing to plates that have hold back/recessed sheathing.
Planning for BCMC 2022 is already underway and our plan is big!! In the meantime, if you are wanting to see any of our range in action, please contact any of our friendly sales staff and we would be happy to set up a site visit.
Before finishing my BCMC wrap-up, I would like to give a shout out to my good friend, George Sanders from Weyerhaeuser. George talked to us about his pending retirement at the show this year and, having collaborated with him on various projects for the past 15 years from my time at Mango Tech to the present, he has been an absolute pleasure to work with. He has been committed to improving products and the overall experience for the customer while working in unison with other companies to achieve these goals. All the best in retirement, George, I am sure you will be missed by your friends and colleagues in the industry.
Lastly, another shout out goes to my colleague, good friend, and all-around great guy, Sean Hubbard. Sean and I have worked closely for many years. In October, Sean moved on from Spida Machinery to pursue his other dreams and aspirations. An industry stalwart, with a wonderful depth of knowledge and great passion, Spida will miss you, Sean – all the best, mate!