With the forecasted housing backlog and ongoing tight labor market, shouldn’t all truss plants be modernizing by investing in automation? That is easier said than done. One strategy to modernize is to automate with incremental investments. In my experience, the best way to get over the...

Panels Plus is eager to be exhibiting again at the Building Component Manufacturers Conference (BCMC) this September 14th–15th. Stop by Booth #1626 at the show and visit our team. We can demonstrate how our products work, discuss how we can help you achieve your panel production...

Attendees at BCMC 2019 stood safely right next to an awesome gesticulating robot and became immersed in observing record-breaking truss building – virtually, that is, through a VR headset. Back then, Trussmatic robots hadn’t made it stateside, and hadn’t yet handled our crazy...

Finance Your Purchase Instead of Placing a Lump Deposit The supply chain disruptions in the economy present one of the more difficult aspects facing clients in the current economic environment. Clients are waiting up to one year to receive equipment, when in the past they have only had to...

Just when you have calculated your traditional CapEx ROI saying “Yes,” you cannot pass “Go” until 2023 because your new machinery lead time is a year away.  Now what? Now you should prepare for it! Instead of focusing on the wait, get better organized before your...

The most common cause of downtime for an automated saw is a lack of lumber on the infeed conveyors. Feeding a linear saw can be a very labor-intensive process. Operators will fatigue and naturally slow down over the day and loading mistakes can cost a plant significantly in lost productivity....

When $20 Billion behemoth Builders First Source (BFS) launched a robotic truss line in April, CMs were surprised that they would select House of Design (HoD)’s first truss machine, and the industry’s first robotic floor truss line. Remarkably, after just over 3 months, they’ve...

This year’s BCMC theme is “No Slowing Down” and that sums up the activities at Spida! We’re now in full production mode with the exciting task of putting together our booth for the next Building Component Manufacturers Conference being held September 12–16 in...

Although devices have become far more intelligent over the last decade, during which microprocessors have penetrated deeply into the world of manufacturing and provided a wealth of diagnostic and operations information, the real value of this information only materializes once a customer is able...

In today’s volatile economy, there is comfort in knowing the significant housing backlog will rely on the components industry to keep on supplying. Trusses are the original off-site construction industry begun more than 60 years ago, and the number of truss plants and capital investments...