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Last month’s article, Using the DMAIC Lean Method to Accomplish Improvement and Take the First Steps to New Goals, used a case study to explore the DMAIC Lean method. This month another case study will be used to  demonstrate how this process can be implemented in your...

The International Code Council (ICC) reviews and updates its family of building codes on a three-year cycle. The code change proposals that will be considered this year affect the fire provisions of the building (IBC) and fire (IFC) codes, and they have been publicly posted. These changes, if...

There are three fundamental lumber market components that will likely combine to make 2018 the most volatile year for prices on record.  LABOR: ICE gave notice last week that it intends to crack down on undocumented workers in the construction industry...on the jobsites. We already...

My last article, “Standards of Performance for Smarties,” talked about writing Standards of Performance (SOP). Although an SOP uses a job description for guidance, it’s actually a performance measurement document that identifies the employee’s expected level of...

Larger beams are often built up out of smaller 2x or 1¾” members. This can be done for several different reasons: for the convenience of handling smaller members on the jobsite, or because solid 4x, 6x or glulam material is not readily available, or for reasons of cost. Engineered...

Buying a million pounds of U.S. steel for our company in Brazil taught me a good lesson on steel tariffs. While there were no apparent restrictions on imported steel, the Brazilian authorities used extraordinary means to prevent us from doing so, and we haven’t bought any since. I suspect...

I love to watch the Olympics. Simply put, every time they come around, I’m hooked. My oldest Olympics memories date back to my mother tuning in to watch Olga Korbut in Montreal 1976. We lived in a suburb of Detroit at the time, so we could watch the coverage on both US and Canadian TV...

Part One: 1960 to 1979   Garden style apartments have been good for the truss business, but have morphed into an almost unrecognizable beast. In making this transition, component manufacturers have built on 40+ years of experience, and have conquered this beast, but not without...

Already 3 months into this project, I hope you’re finding this series to be as interesting and informative as I am. I’m continuing to use the schedule of comparisons that I set out in the December issue. The months are as follows. Schedule of Comparisons: January ...

Industrial engineering – “The branch of engineering that is concerned with the production of industrial goods, especially by the design of efficient plants and procedures and the management of materials, energy, and labor.” (Source – The Free Dictionary) The Lean...