How Important are Neatly Stacked Trusses? Glenn Traylor There is a certain obsessive compulsive behavior that motivates some fabricators when it comes to stacking completed trusses and preparing them for shipment to the customer—but did you ever think of the benefits of tight, stacked, aligned trusses? One of the most difficult parts of a... Read More July 2017 Issue #10216 Page 36
So What is the Big Deal About Member to Member Gaps? Glenn Traylor Compliance with ANSI/TPI 1–2014 requires maintaining member to member gaps at less than 1/4 inch. An exception would be for floor truss chord splices where the limit is 1/16 inch. Let us take a look at two different situations, the first being a roof truss and the second being a 4 x 2... Read More June 2017 Issue #10215 Page 30
What are the Acceptable Methods of Plating a Connector? Glenn Traylor In a perfect world, our trusses smoothly flow from the assembly table to the finish roller without any problems. Each connector, on both sides of the assembly, is adequately pressed and a completed truss is the result. Unfortunately, we don’t live in this perfect environment. Stuff... Read More May 2017 Issue #10214 Page 28
Robotics in the LBM & Component Industry Ben Hershey A book I read in 2015, “Rise of the Robots,” by Martin Ford, talked about the threat many people see that robots present to the employment marketplace. At the time, I was working with several different equipment manufacturers and clients on their automated/robotic equipment... Read More May 2017 Issue #10214 Page 48
When I Cut My Lumber, Do I Affect the Lumber Grade? Glenn Traylor As a general rule, when you cut lumber to length, the lumber grade is unchanged. In those cases, care should be taken to transfer that grade verification along with the cut lumber. This can be done with a lumber crayon, segregation, tagging, or many other suitable ways. Ripping lumber,... Read More April 2017 Issue #10213 Page 30
How Quality Control is Essential in Your Lean Program Ben Hershey Part 4 in our TIMWOODS Series Shigeo Shingo, who is considered the world’s leading expert on manufacturing practices and the Toyota Production System, wrote “humans are animals that make mistakes.” But how often do we make mistakes in our lumber yards, millwork, and... Read More April 2017 Issue #10213 Page 50
What is a Better Way to Survey, Inspect, and Record Data When Making Truss Inspections? Glenn Traylor When you write a letter or series of paragraphs, sometimes it’s difficult to proof the very thing you just wrote. Why is that? Because you don’t approach it with a clean-slate perspective but with an expectation of what you think it says. Likewise in our industry, it’s often... Read More March 2017 Issue #10212 Page 30
Upsizing Plates and Plate Placement Method Failures Glenn Traylor Using a 6 x 6 plate instead of a 3 x 6 plate can make the Plate Placement Method fail the polygon rule. So what is happening? And how can this be resolved? What’s Happening In the image, the yellow area represents the connector optimal placement for the designed size of a 3 x 6... Read More February 2017 Issue #10211 Page 27
Is This an Allowable Repair? Glenn Traylor There is nothing worse than running a truss out the door and then realizing one of the truss members is broken. The question is – can I make a quick fix using a connector plate? The short answer is – no. But there are many who may not realize that specific engineering is required for... Read More January 2017 Issue #10210 Page 28
Is Your Plant Process an Open or Closed Loop Process? Glenn Traylor I remember the introduction of early cruise control in cars. It was fantastic. It allowed the driver to set their speed without having to hold the accelerator pedal down with their foot. The only problem was, when you went up a hill, the car slowed down. When you went down a hill, the car... Read More December 2016 Issue #09209 Page 26