Generally speaking, I write most of the editorials for Component Advertiser – but when I was speaking to Tony McCoy, our Sales Manager from Texas and South Central, he asked if he could write an article from the heart, and I just couldn’t resist publishing his thoughts. Tony has been around our Industry for a long time and he is a thorough gentlemen. Here he talks about his 30-year experience with BCMC. Wendy
The age-old adage, where does time go so quickly, was playing though my head at this most recent Building Component Manufacturers Conference in Columbus, Ohio. I have attended, or been a part of, over 30 BCMC shows since the mid-1980s. From 20 lb. IBM XT computers with 10 meg hard drives to 1 lb. Surface Pros with over 250 GB of storage. From roadside phone booths and pagers to handheld iPhones with Hotspots. From “chalking out” trusses on the ground and building on wood top tables and flip jigs to computer-aided puck tables and overhead laser systems. From “chop saws” and framing squares to big computer-driven linear saws, so much has changed. Today we can design complex, multi-pitched 60’-0” trusses in mere seconds versus days. Suffice to say, we old-timers have witnessed a tremendous amount of innovation and growth in this industry.
And to that end, Spida Machinery has been a huge player in the innovation that has occurred over the last 30 years. When Spida Machinery brought the CSS, the first fully computerized pull saw, to the US market, it really upped the game of computerized truss equipment. Today Spida Machinery has an array of automated equipment, including our Apollo Saw, M600 and S600 Wall Saw, the Tornado, and our very successful and popular PieceMaker Linear Saw. We also have our fantastic, automated roof truss table we call the Roller Plant with our Jig-It puck system. I think the piece of equipment I love most is our Extruder Wall Line. Having been a framer for a few years, I can really appreciate the features the Extruder brings to the market. Talking about innovation, Spida Machinery has really brought its A game with this line of machinery. From the curved conveyor and major component infeed to the raking framer, Spida is again leading the way in innovation and efficiency with wall panel machinery and production. No other panel line reduces labor costs while increasing panel production like the Spida Extruder. There are only 3 direct laborers who are building walls. One is building sub-components, tees, corners, and feeding the curved conveyor. The second is building all the openings and feeding the extruder as top and bottom plates are being pulled into the extruder. And the third laborer is pulling in all the components from the center of the extruder and using automatic nail guns to fasten the components together. There are 2 additional laborers at the squaring table tacking on sheathing before going into our dual bridge sheather that includes four nailing heads/guns and skill saws for cutting out openings. Incorporating a saw in the nailing bridge is a first in the industry. Not only is the saw faster than a router, but it also produces much less dust and debris. We also include a dust collection system with this bridge. In today’s super tight labor market, where consistent reliable labor is a real challenge to find, the Extruder is the wall machinery line of choice. The success of our wall line is proven with the number of Extruders being installed in 2023 in many wall plants around the country. We had quite the crowds at BCMC watching demonstrations of this line. Without question the wall line demonstration was the most watched demo at the show!
Lastly, of the 30 plus BCMC Shows I have been involved with over the years, this year was the most fun I’ve ever had. For exhibitors, these shows require a great amount of preparation and planning and a great amount of effort to set up and tear down. Kudos to Wendy and Lindsey for their efforts. In addition, our “brothers in arms” came from afar to lend us a hand. There were several Aussie and Kiwi guys that came over to take part in the show. I was so impressed with their knowledge, gusto, and enthusiasm. Their pride in their work, their passion for excellence, and the professionalism they exude will ring with this old-timer for a long time. It’s what makes Spida Machinery so successful. It drives our innovation and originality. It’s this kind of attitude that makes me so proud to be a small part of this organization.
Cheers and Goo’-day Mates, Tony!
To all our customers and supporters – we would like to wish you all a most wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year. It has been an honor to support and supply you with product in 2022 and we hope to see you all again in 2023 and beyond. Stay well and take care, Wendy.
For more on Spida at BCMC 2022, see their October 2002 article: