Library

In this article, Paul McEntee follows up on our July 25 webinar, Making Wood Connections Work for Two-Hour Fire Walls, by answering some of the interesting questions raised by attendees. We presented an hour-long webinar recently about using fire wall hangers in Type III wood-frame buildings,...

I’m not just a teacher at my Whizard Summits, I’m also a student. I show up to each event ready to share my knowledge, but I also learn a lot from the companies who attend. The major thing I learn about at each of these events are the biggest challenges building material companies...

BCMC 2018 topped even the 1973 Show. At the Louisville fairgrounds back then, we also sold a record amount of truss machinery, but under vastly different conditions in the U.S. Housing starts had just peaked at 2.4 Million units, nearly twice current levels and 20% higher than any level since...

Last month, Thom talked about the origins of The Advertiser as we reached its 10th anniversary. This month, it’s time to celebrate the start of our 11th year! The Second Decade and Beyond What better way to enter the magazine’s second decade than with a brand new website! As I...

Part III: In-House Computing (Almost) In 1971, for the first time, both On-Line Data and Gang-Nail, Inc. put computer software at the fingertips of truss designers. By 1973, our company responded, and so did most of our major competitors. This innovation was wrought out of near desperation on...

Part 2: Continuing the Journey of 7 Steps As discused in "Part 1: Beginning a Journey of 7 Steps," we all aspire to have a state of operational excellence in our organizations, which is easier said than done. Operational excellence is about more than simply adjusting the...

Many years ago I worked construction as a teenager, and I recall the framing lumber I used to see as a framer’s helper. My teacher was a gentleman by the name of Otho Tew. Otho was a seasoned experienced homebuilder who had learned his trade from his father and probably his father before....

I am often asked about what is the best one-size-size-fits-all equipment solution to fit all the component manufacturing needs. Of course, too many equipment vendors are more than willing to offer their version of a one-size-fits-all solution. Below are three examples of when one size does not...

Eliminating downtime associated with Requests for Information (RFIs) when clashes or questions come to light during the building phase saves significant time, money, and – of particular interest in our current supply-constrained labor market – construction labor. Many in the...

Optimization… In general, most plants want to mix up the cutting list, while still controlling the order that the members cut by the saw. This allows some gains in waste/cost to be had by combining members but still allows the cut components to be stacked easily according to truss once...