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...

At each BCMC, we’re able to see the evolution of our industry in real time. Right now, we’re seeing how to integrate machines that used to operate independently. These machines, the saws and the tables, have had sixty years of improvements, and a billion dollars of CM investments....

As the new Millennium dawned, it still hadn’t dawned on CMs that a linear saw was a sure bet. Jim Urmson was getting great results with his rough prototype, but he didn’t know whether other truss shops would. Fortunately, Jim’s plate salesman, Sid Gwyn, was so confident in...

I recently had a chance to visit Weinmann and Hundegger in Germany. Having partnerships that we can talk about and advertise is great, but having partnerships where we take steps to learn each other’s products, procedures, and people is what allows us to grow into a stronger machine vendor...

Have you heard the news? On September 10, Simpson Strong-Tie announced the formation of our new partnership. Officially, Simpson Strong-Tie has begun “a direct investment into the North America Hundegger equipment sales and service representative partner, Hundegger USA, LC.” So,...

What I experienced at the truss industry’s first trade show was the bare bones beginning of fifty years of industry progress. But, at first glance in 1971, it didn’t seem so, as I found only a handful of 8x10 booths, tucked in the corner of the Louisville Fairgrounds. Yet plenty of...

In the 1990s, two small town entrepreneurs tackled vexing cutting problems, but from very different angles, and their innovations set the table for today’s linear saw industry. Jim Urmson, working in Mt. Dora, Florida, population 14,000, started from the ground up, aiming to automate his...

Recently, in lieu of my 15-year-old son destroying my personal vehicle while working through drivers education, I decided it was safer to purchase a vehicle specifically for him. For several months, I browsed the internet, visited car lots, and test drove cars. Eventually, this became such a...

We once again are at the end of summer, patiently waiting for the high temps to subside, the leaves to start changing, and Fall to officially begin. With the arrival of Fall, we get a new school year, football, Halloween, and so much more. One of the Fall events I have always looked forward to...

Why did most of today’s saw technology come from small shops and not from large machinery companies? And how could just a handful of not well-known people, working in remote locations, make such a difference? Until recent years, they didn’t make much money. Most sold their businesses...