Small Investments Can Garner Huge Gains for Productivity for Your Sales Team Todd Drummond Last month’s article, “Investment in Employee Training, Not Just Equipment,” produced a lot of good responses from many readers. Now it is time to offer real solutions to help your company improve productivity and reduce costly errors for your sales team and also all of the... Read More December 2019 Issue #11245 Page 27
Inspecting Trusses—You Never Know What You Might See Glenn Traylor Recently, I was asked to divert from my normal 3rd party agenda to make a special truss inspection. Although this seemed a little unusual, on occasion I am asked to do this sort of thing, so I didn’t pay it any mind. Normally, it’s a peculiar joint condition or a difficult plate... Read More December 2019 Issue #11245 Page 38
How to Ensure Your Choice of Linear Saw is a ‘Cut’ Above the Rest Ed Serrano Investment: [ɪnˈvɛs(t)m(ə)nt] NOUN: a thing that is worth buying because it may be profitable or useful in the future. Automating your truss and frame plant is an investment in your business and your future. Today, the American market has the benefit of having a number of linear saw... Read More December 2019 Issue #11245 Page 45
The Hiring Zone: Job Search Blues As a recruiter, I see the geneses of job dissatisfaction and turnover. You start a job with hopes of being there forever, or at least 10 years, and within a year or two you are back looking at the job market. While the internet has made it easier to search for and find a new job, it also has... Read More December 2019 Issue #11245 Page 80
Will Automation Always be a Distant Dream for Modular Housing? Gary Fleisher Recently I heard, once again, a speaker supporting total automation of the modular production process while comparing modular housing with automobile production lines. Let me put this to rest for hopefully the last time. Modular housing is not anything like the auto industry. There are two... Read More December 2019 Issue #11245 Page 84
Spotlighting Fire Prevention and Innovative Wood Products Robert Glowinski In our October article, we provided some advance highlights of our plans for National Forest Products Week. This month, I want to recap the events of the week’s Timber Innovation Day and also share that there is a second important week in October for the wood products industry and its... Read More December 2019 Issue #11245 Page 90
Lumber Briefs: Lumber & Housing Market Forecast—Year End Strategy Matt Layman We have six weeks left in the 2019 season with three major holidays inside that window. At a minimum, we will lose one week of jobsite productivity. Buyers are measuring needs against inventory on the ground as well as bought ahead. Many states have year-end inventory taxes and historically... Read More December 2019 Issue #11245 Page 92
Adjustable Hanger or Custom Hanger — You Make the Call Randy Shackelford It would be a lot simpler for designing engineers if structural connections were always for members at right angles to one another. Often, connections have to be designed for supported members that are at a skewed or sloped angle rather than perpendicular to the header. In these cases, the... Read More December 2019 Issue #11245 Page 104
The Last Word: The Last Word on Thanksgiving Joe Kannapell, PE Let’s give thanks to this component industry, for still paying us after all these 50+ years. While so many others have been laid off or retired early, we are still standing tall. Even as the lifeblood of our industry, housing starts, are down 50% since I came on board. Even as four major... Read More December 2019 Issue #11245 Page 125
Advertiser Forum: Cheers to Good Times in Columbus Anna Stamm The weather was pleasant, the accommodations were good, and the people were awesome. I must admit – my “Countdown to BCMC” series got me excited about the show, and I’m very glad I went! To everyone who gave me a warm welcome – Thank you! To everyone who... Read More November 2019 Issue #11244 Page 6