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It’s true that, by nature, the materials currently used for wood trusses can vary in strength and properties. Given a specific lumber size and grade, truss builders often need to evaluate lumber picked, cut, and provided to build the specific job at hand. After verifying the lumber grade,...

Part 9 in our TIMWOODS Series Hey TimWoods, it’s time to take a pause with your Gemba walk and talk about a Waste Reduction plan using what we learned in this series. Throughout this series, our friend TimWoods has helped us focus on the wastes of Transportation, Inventory, Motion,...

When this quote by John Ruskin appeared on a recent LinkedIn post, it led me to think about the best approach for a business considering changing suppliers.  It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s also unwise to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money,...

The American Wood Council hosted a webinar in July sharing best practices for fire protection during construction to help mitigate and reduce construction fires. The 90-minute presentation introduced attendees to several recent major construction fires and their reported causes, the many...

We’ve heard the old adage, “This isn’t your father’s business anymore,” implying that things have changed since the “old days.” Well, things are going to have to change in the housing industry if we ever intend to get out of the corner of this room we...

You have reached a tipping point and have come to the realization that continuing down your current path will only yield greater pain and more of the same results. Change will bring benefits, you and the senior staff have identified what is in it for the key drivers, and management has committed...

Before you get the wrong impression—No, I don’t think remote designers are evil, just that some employers are still reluctant to accept them as a viable option. Going beyond the question of if you will use remote designers, let’s get to the reason you should so you can embrace...

One of the questions I am asked most frequently is “Who is responsible for the truss-to-(fill in the blank) connection? One such example is the truss-to-wall connection. To answer this question, it helps to recognize there are two types of connections: a truss-to-truss connection and a...

Have you hired any military veterans lately, as have many component plants across the country? You will find that they generally have gained the skills, work ethic, and leadership for your supervisory and technical positions. But you will also encounter plenty of competition for the good ones,...

Can you feel it? The end of the year is approaching fast. It’s funny how time doesn’t fly at a constant speed, but rather it seems to quicken or slow depending on how much is happening. Now that it’s November, it will keep moving fast until New Years. Time to Say...