The Last Word: LBMs and the Component Business Joe Kannapell, PE The contemporary consolidations within the Lumber and Building Materials (LBM) business were prompted by consolidations within the home improvement retail industry. Home Depot started the movement in 1979, and its dramatic growth forced Lowes to follow it, converting its stores into mostly... Read More April 2023 Issue #15285 Page 136
Does Your Plant Have a Culture of Quality? Glenn Traylor Quality, productivity, and speed are intertwined and impact each other. My previous article, Where is Your Focus on Manufacturing?, emphasizes that improving quality starts with implementation of the ANSI/TPI 1 standard—and, with that process, you will improve proficiency and speed. The... Read More March 2023 Issue #15284 Page 35
Gain Insight into MSR Lumber Market at April Workshop MSR Lumber Producers Council As plans for the 2023 MSR Workshop come together, MSRLPC President and Workshop Committee Chair George Hamilton says members are getting excited to host another memorable event. “We are looking forward to experiencing San Antonio and all that our meeting venue has to offer,” says... Read More March 2023 Issue #15284 Page 69
Has Your Guideline Shifted? Glenn Traylor Recently after receiving a phone call from a client, I reflected on our conversation. I was a little caught off guard with the direction the conversation took and felt like I needed to make a few issues clear. And, it has led me to reflect on boundaries and guidelines – why they exist and... Read More February 2023 Issue #15283 Page 35
Setting the Goal of One Thousand Pieces per Hour Edmond Lim, P.Eng. A “Thousand Pieces an Hour” is a golden truss production metric and a lofty goal for many component plants. If one thousand is the magic number, even at 75% efficiency, in a 7-hour shift (7 hours x 1,000 pieces/hour, at 75%) that would be 5,250 pieces with potential to achieve 7,000... Read More February 2023 Issue #15283 Page 48
All Things Wood: Design of Wood Structures—an Introductory Course Frank Woeste Once again, Virginia Tech will be offering its popular two-day course on topics related to wood construction. This year’s course, to be held on April 26–27, will focus on practical code-conforming design of wood structures based on provisions of the 2018 National Design... Read More February 2023 Issue #15283 Page 74
Effects of Ripping Structural Truss Lumber MiTek Staff How does ripping lumber, cutting a board along its length, affect its grade or strength values? Structural lumber is graded or inspected which provides designers, through the National Design Specification® (NDS®) for Wood Construction, the strength/design values for the lumber members.... Read More February 2023 Issue #15283 Page 112
Are You Making Correct Substitutions and Placements When Upsizing Connectors? Glenn Traylor Sometimes it is necessary to deviate from the truss design drawing and use a different connector. This may happen when a specific size connector is not available or when the original connector has been removed. Per ANSI/TPI 1 Section 3.6.3, a metal connector can be substituted if the new... Read More January 2023 Issue #15282 Page 35
Turning Supply Chain Constraints Into Opportunities Edmond Lim, P.Eng. Looking back at my articles in 2022, have you noticed what several have in common? Consider the plants featured in these stories: United Edge Structural Components, “In-Line Truss Production Starts With Lumber Picking” (December) United Truss, “The Most Automated, Most... Read More January 2023 Issue #15282 Page 52
Proof That Even the Largest Wood Truss CMs are Not Immune to Losing Tens of Millions of Dollars with Outdated Reporting Todd Drummond Despite the fantastic profits these past few years, some of the largest wood truss component manufacturers (CM) are losing tens of millions of dollars hidden in plain sight. Talk to any of the executives at these CMs, and they will be able to rattle off the EBITA or other P/L results, yet they... Read More December 2022 Issue #14281 Page 26