Navigating Rising Interest Rates Carl Villella On June 15th, the Federal Reserve Bank raised its benchmark interest rate for the third time this year. It was its biggest increase since 1994. The Fed raised rates by three quarters of a percentage point, and indicated that further increases would follow in July. Nonetheless, Fed chairman... Read More July 2022 Issue #14276 Page 69
The Last Word: The Last Word on the Robotics Transition Joe Kannapell Robotics showed new promise for many CMs on May 17, ironically, by borrowing from the past 60 years of truss machinery. Attendees at SBCA’s Open Quarterly Meeting in Williamsburg, VA saw video of robots feeding truss parts into auto-jigging at the plant of their largest competitor,... Read More July 2022 Issue #14276 Page 132
Machinery ROI and Increasing Your Market Share Paul Proctor One of the most common questions I hear from my customers is: How do we solve our employee shortfalls, while increasing production and safety, so we can increase our market share? How efficiently a company can leverage its assets to generate a profit is what keeps a business successful and... Read More June 2022 Issue #14275 Page 21
How to Squeeze Out More Truss Production Edmond Lim, P.Eng. Trusses are complicated yet the fabrication description is quite simple – pick the lumber, cut the lumber, and assemble the lumber. Now try doing this profitably at high volume and you will need to automate some or all of these processes, which all truss plants have done within their... Read More June 2022 Issue #14275 Page 56
Strategies for a Rising Interest-Rate Economy Carl Villella On May 4th, the Federal Reserve Bank raised its benchmark interest rate for the second time this year. It was its biggest increase since 2000. The Fed raised rates by half a percentage point, and indicated that further increases would follow throughout the year. Its next increase is poised to... Read More June 2022 Issue #14275 Page 67
A Retrofit or a New Truss Line – How to Decide Cullen Ellis and Chad Wickham Decisions, decisions – how do you decide between a retrofit for your plant or upgrading to a new truss line? It’s all about the options. Let’s Start with the Retrofit Retrofitting an existing table is not for the faint hearted, so it’s important to know you have... Read More May 2022 Issue #14274 Page 19
Debunking the “Automation Takes Too Much Space” Myth Edmond Lim, P.Eng. Can you spot the Lumber PickLine in the satellite image? Contrary to the myth that it will “take up too much space,” a lumber PickLine can actually save space by utilizing existing truck lanes and by following existing forklift flow. For example, this outside PickLine has ample 35 ft... Read More May 2022 Issue #14274 Page 54
Lock in Rates Now with Financing Programs Carl Villella As you may already be aware, the Fed has committed to raising interest rates in 2022. Will you have your financing in place before the rates move higher? One of the many advantages of working with Acceptance Leasing and Financing Service is that we have a number of financing programs that... Read More May 2022 Issue #14274 Page 63
A Standing Innovation: Fastening Wood to Steel Just Got Easier Simpson Strong-Tie Staff If you’ve ever spent a few hours working on your hands and knees to drill holes and drive screws, you know how time consuming and tedious it can be. Now, imagine spending consecutive weeks, months or even years fastening wood planks to steel on a manufacturing production line. For... Read More May 2022 Issue #14274 Page 110
Spida’s Personal Approach to Service and Installation Chad Wickham Starting in the maintenance field in the mid-1980s was an eye opener for me, to say the least I was very green. The manager of the truss plant could see I had mechanical aptitude and was driven to learn – but he also saw that I had no practical experience about troubleshooting machinery.... Read More April 2022 Issue #14273 Page 19