Good Bones Dave Pasolli If you enjoy watching any of the many home improvement shows where the hosts pick an older home to renovate, you notice they always talk about the “bones” of the house. In their opinion, this is one of the most important features of any potential renovation job. Typically, they... Read More March 2018 Issue #10224 Page 74
Three Key Obstacles to Overcome to Improve Your Operations Todd Drummond Every consultation is different, yet some things remain the same. People are creatures of habit, and some of the issues that are dealt with during the consultations are very similar. Three key obstacles or areas are so common that I have yet to find a company not struggling with each of... Read More February 2018 Issue #10223 Page 30
Is There Such Thing as Too Much Pressure? Glenn Traylor Too much pressure is not only a problem in our lives, it can also be a problem in our plants. One of the most important issues when manufacturing quality trusses is plate embedment. Without proper embedment, the connector plate cannot adequately transfer load forces through the members down to... Read More February 2018 Issue #10223 Page 36
Seeing the Need for Quality Assurance AND Training Glenn Traylor When you look at this photo, what do you see? The photo is an actual picture taken during a plant audit, but just imagine this was taken at your truss plant. In the photo, the second side of the floor truss is set up in the floor machine with the connector plate positioned and ready to receive... Read More January 2018 Issue #10222 Page 36
A Case for Providing More Design Info to the Assembly Table Glenn Traylor 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,... Read More December 2017 Issue #10221 Page 36
So Who Exactly is Responsible for Lumber Quality? Glenn Traylor In the United States, we are blessed with an abundance of quality building materials we may chose to use while fabricating our wood truss products. As long as we are able to confidently predict lumber values and our truss design software has the proper values entered, we can be assured a quality... Read More November 2017 Issue #10220 Page 34
Can Staple Use Be Too Much of a Good Thing? Glenn Traylor With today’s complex profiles and configurations, many truss fabricators have been relying on staples to set assembly member contact and relationships. Stapling serves as a temporary means to insure tight joints and accurate locations. Often times, however, because of the ease of multiple... Read More October 2017 Issue #10219 Page 34
Can Technology Alone Cure Quality Issues? Glenn Traylor There are many methods that are employed to help insure proper plate placement. Perhaps no technology has had a greater impact than ink jetting truss components with plate size and location. Ink jetting plate data can help you reduce necessary plate sizes resulting in plate cost reductions.... Read More September 2017 Issue #10218 Page 30
The Last Word: Straightening Crooked Southern Pine Joe Kannapell Finally we are learning what the Canadians figured out: how to maximize the use of Southern Pine (SP) lumber. We are advancing truss equipment while they are transforming sawmills to enhance the quality of this once too-crooked product. The Canadians are replaying the strategy that enabled... Read More September 2017 Issue #10218 Page 90
How Many Times Can You Press in a Truss Plate? Glenn Traylor The answer might surprise you. During the course of fabricating trusses, on occasion a plate is not completely pressed. As the truss comes out of the finish roller or hydraulic press, the plate sometimes does not get pressed all the way. Sometimes the plate is missed or removed and up plated.... Read More August 2017 Issue #10217 Page 28