Last month’s article, “Record-Breaking EBITA Exceeded Mid-Twenties for Many Component Manufacturing for 2021,” mentioned a key factor of making best-in-class profits: the highest performers have very low employee turnover and vacancies. Creating a stable and proficient...

We have spent the last few months talking about management software being flexible. No two operations are exactly the same, so why should your software be the same? Our team has built TrueBuild® Job Management from the ground up with adaptability at its core. From the very basic to the...

February means different things to different people – Valentine’s Day, the Super Bowl, Family Day (in Canada) – but to me, February is also the anniversary of my most complicated and challenging installation. What’s more, the installation was completed in the middle of...

As one of the top 10 private homebuilders in the US (and one of the top 25 overall), Gehan Homes has explored its fair share of technologies promising efficiency and productivity gains. When it came to pulling home designs, plans, elevations, and options into full job start packets (JSPs), the...

Two linear saws were set to battle one other at BCMC: Alpine’s, never having operated in a truss plant, vs. TCT’s, running in 10 truss plants. But few expected the competition at the 2002 Show. Alpine’s entry was the result of a crash effort, largely behind the scenes, to...

I’m excited to seize all of the opportunities in front of me with my new position here at Spida, so I’ve decided to start with a little introduction about how I got involved in this industry and what has led me to this great company. How So Many of Us Got Our Start in...

Last year should have been a record profit year for wood truss and wall panel component manufacturers (CM). Many of my clients have mid to upper-twenties EBITA. A few made it to the mid-thirties of their total sales. Yet, so many find this hard to believe. Too many believe mid to high teens for...

Software flexibility in managing your plant isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity that every truss operation should expect for their business. You need to manage everything from customers to invoices, and you need to do it efficiently. And, you should be able to determine exactly how you...

Feed the Beast! That’s what I call it — and that’s what I suggest to every component manufacturer striving to optimize their plant. A Lumber PickLine will ensure that your saw never goes hungry for lumber. Using inefficient, expensive, and labor-intensive “forklift...

Alpine Engineered Products’ new owners greenlighted both a new linear saw and a major upgrade to their component saw, but they gave Dave McAdoo a nearly impossible deadline. He would have to deliver both by BCMC 2002, just 3½ months away. And the most difficult of these, the linear...