In our May issue, I began this series From the Road, inviting everyone along the course of our cross-country adventure to connect with me for an in-person visit. Recently, I was pleased to tour Merrick Machine Co. in Alda, Nebraska, the home of Triad Machinery. Arriving at the industrial park...

What I experienced at the truss industry’s first trade show was the bare bones beginning of fifty years of industry progress. But, at first glance in 1971, it didn’t seem so, as I found only a handful of 8x10 booths, tucked in the corner of the Louisville Fairgrounds. Yet plenty of...

Every time a company adds “new and improved” to the label of something I am buying, I have a moment of fear and frustration. I bide my time until I try using this “improved” product, whatever it may be, and then I will assess if the improvement is something I will...

In the 1990s, two small town entrepreneurs tackled vexing cutting problems, but from very different angles, and their innovations set the table for today’s linear saw industry. Jim Urmson, working in Mt. Dora, Florida, population 14,000, started from the ground up, aiming to automate his...

Recently, in lieu of my 15-year-old son destroying my personal vehicle while working through drivers education, I decided it was safer to purchase a vehicle specifically for him. For several months, I browsed the internet, visited car lots, and test drove cars. Eventually, this became such a...

For more than four decades, JL Schwieters Construction (JLS) has provided quality and dependability to the building industry. Brothers John and Leo Schwieters built the company in Hugo, Minnesota, and it has grown and built a reputation of reliability in the Twin Cities’ framing...

Some exciting developments have been in the works at Panels Plus. Not only are we launching a new product, but we’re also launching an entirely new product category, the Platinum Series, that is focused on increased automation. Our team is thrilled to announce the addition of the Platinum...

Why did most of today’s saw technology come from small shops and not from large machinery companies? And how could just a handful of not well-known people, working in remote locations, make such a difference? Until recent years, they didn’t make much money. Most sold their businesses...

Entering the new Millennium, the linear fed saw needed to be reborn. Though CMs had boosted productivity with bolted-on improvements to their Metra-Cut type saws, they still couldn’t keep up with automated component saws. Yet they remained an essential part of the saw shop, even though...

Suppose you want an effective incentive program that improves productivity, saves your company labor cost, and rewards your most valued production crews with additional wages. Perhaps you also want to improve the accuracy of your production scheduling that allows for a proper understanding of...