Library

Just like some foods, lumber kept in the right environment will store for an indefinite length of time. But just like food, lumber kept in sub-par conditions will have a shortened storage period. If you’re not storing your lumber properly, you may have to question whether it can/should...

Part 1: Beginning a Journey of 7 Steps We all aspire to have a state of operational excellence in our organizations, but it is often much easier said than done. Although it’s often conceptualized as merely tweaking the current way of doing things, operational excel­lence is about...

The American Institute of Building Design (AIBD) inducted Anchorage businesswoman, Karen Kassik-Michelsohn, FAIBD, of Michelsohn & Daughter, into the office of President at its Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA. Karen is a certified member of the organization and for over 30 years has...

The increased acceleration of city infill and the popularity of apartments is creating the opportunity for frame and truss manufacturing to expand into mid-rise construction, an important growth area for the industry. However, with expansion comes a greater emphasis on quality manufacturing,...

Nearly every U.S. and Canadian metal plate connected wood truss manufacturer has one or more clients who either construct pole barns or sell kit packages. Not much excitement though in dealing with typical orders of usually anywhere from 4 to 10 trusses per building. Money can certainly be...

Ten years may as well have been a lifetime with so much water under the industry bridge; so to speak. I looked back and saw how our little weekly newsletter became what is now the largest, and only monthly, publication that focuses on the Truss, Wall Panel, and Building Components...

Increasing use of mass timber as a competitive building product in the construction marketplace requires sound design guidelines to ensure safe, efficient, and economic use of wood products. AWC fire research on mass timber conducted over the last year, with support from the Softwood Lumber...

Sales-folk are plagued with an addiction to “get the order.” Deep down inside, we want ALL the orders. Unfortunately, for every sales person, there is an opponent who has the same desire...Get ‘em all. Egotistical human drive opened the door for masters of the art of selling...

My wife made furniture shopping a family event last weekend, which meant I had to go. The showroom was in a concrete tilt-up with open-web steel joists and a wood roof. My oldest son asked me who decides what construction materials are used, and why. He’s starting college in the fall and...

Struggling mightily to hand-design enough trusses, we suppliers aggressively pursued computer solutions. When mainframe hardware was introduced in the 1960s, our then-competitor, Gang Nail Systems, installed a Control Data “Cyber 70” in a customized, climate controlled computer room,...