Creating Solutions with Labor-Saving Equipment

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Issue #15283 - February 2023 | Page #17
By Wendy Boyd

When arriving back to work after Christmas holidays, I had a few hundred emails to work through and a multitude of other tasks to conquer so I’d be up to speed again for 2023. One of the most compelling emails I had was from a Truss and Wall Fabricator who was appealing to me to help solve an age-old problem. The email went something like this:

Wendy, I want to talk to you about some machinery for my factory. I can’t get my workers to come to work, they are either away on holidays, they are sick, or their family is sick – hence I only have half my staff come to work daily – what can Spida do to help?

My first thought was: wow, where do I start? Better cutting, better automation – Spida has so many options that could help!

Immediately I looked at my stock on hand to see if I had a quick solution to his cutting problems. With quite a few Spida saws in stock, we had a conversation on cutting requirements for his factory and how we could increase his cutting capacity with just one new saw. Could one saw make a huge difference? (Hint: the answer is YES.)

He also had a completely manual wall framing line with 10 men who would work on it – but on average only 5 would show up to work on any given day. Could we redeploy the dependable workers so that they were productive and efficient every day? (Hint: the answer is YES.)

Chatting about output, he understood that the Spida Wall Line’s capability eclipsed that of his current planned lineal feet per day of wall frames. He looked at where this wall line could fit in his plant and who he needed to make it work. He had 4 men that he knew were the workers who showed up every day – and that’s all he needed to operate the wall line we were discussing and to keep the production promises made to keep his factory running. I could see his mind ticking over about the possibilities going forward. Could he increase his production numbers and start getting more market share in his city? (Hint: the answer is YES.)

 We were well on the way to helping him solve the issues he was having, but there was one more thing to add to his list that would be an easy way to increase his truss production. We discussed the capabilities of a Mini 8 or Mini 10 table press to help his already overburdened truss line. With a couple of dedicated workers – that were repurposed from around the factory (he didn’t need 5 of those men on the wall line anymore), he planned on pushing quite a few trusses to one of these tables. Easy to install and just as easy to learn with a little training, the Mini 8 or 10 can do anything from small to large trusses with just a few men. Would this help him increase his production even more? (Hint: the answer is YES.)

So with just a few conversations, I was able to provide a multitude of options to help the sender of that 1 email. Only 199 more emails to go….

If we can help you with your 2023 requirements, please let us know. We have Tony in South Central, Dan in the Southeast, Bill in the Northeast, and Mike in the West – all can be contacted via our Spida office or via the contact page on our website. Happy 2023!

Wendy Boyd

Author: Wendy Boyd

Spida Chief Customer Officer Machinery Group

You're reading an article from the February 2023 issue.

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