High Wind Guides for the Hurricane Season Robert Glowinski With hurricane season underway, several regions of the United States face the threat of wind-related damage to buildings. According to the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS), high winds cause millions of dollars in property damage each year, with roofs representing 85 to 95... Read More July 2016 Issue #09204 Page 42
Lumber Contracts...Should You Ditch 'Em? Matt Layman A contract, for the purposes of this discussion is an agreement to sell or buy a predetermined quantity,size and grade of lumber or panels, typically between a consumer and a producer...priced at current market value, "Friday Prior to Shipment." The buyer is assured of receiving... Read More July 2016 Issue #09204 Page 46
Rethinking Ways to Encourage Permanent Truss Bracing Frank Woeste For Component Manufacturers (CMs), it is generally well known that the Registered Design Professional (RDP) is responsible per ANSI/TPI 1 for the design of the permanent bracing system for the wood truss system. However, the issue of responsibility is only the first part of the actual design and... Read More July 2016 Issue #09204 Page 59
Continuous Improvement Ben Hershey Continuous Improvement – Success is achieved, not from the program, but from the mindset Theory of Constraints. The Houlihan Labor Method. Quick Response Manufacturing. Six Sigma. Lean. Total Productive Maintenance. Total Quality Management. The lexicon, tools, and methods... Read More July 2016 Issue #09204 Page 62
The Last Word: Too Many Touches? Joe Kannapell “The least number of touches,” says B. J. Louws, “equals the least cost.” That’s what he learned by careful study of his truss plant operations, and by continual experimentation to increase efficiency. B.J.’s strategy, which has enabled Louws Truss to become a... Read More July 2016 Issue #09204 Page 65
Question of the Day: Permanent Bracing – What’s the Big Deal? Stan Sias Permanent bracing, what’s the big deal? I was recently on a jobsite talking with the Superintendent. The topic quickly turned to the trusses overhead (imagine that!) and I asked if he had a set of the Truss Design Drawings that came with them. He said he did and that they were in... Read More June 2016 Issue #09203 Page 4
Advertiser Forum: Satisfaction and Communication Anna Stamm Recently, several people I know were asked to participate in satisfaction surveys. Though their situations differed, all of the surveys were motivated by good intentions. Even so, the results were mixed. As an outsider observing them, I’ve been struck by the things, both good and not so... Read More June 2016 Issue #09203 Page 10
The Learning Never Ceases Carl Schoening Before I launch into this month’s musings, I would like to thank everyone who has responded so positively to my writing. My hiatus from writing and publishing articles occurred when my primary outlet decided all of their article-writing should be done in-house. Not that I needed one more... Read More June 2016 Issue #09203 Page 16
Killing the Messenger – Self-Proclaimed Industry Expert Consultant Todd Drummond On behalf of all the self-proclaimed industry expert consultants (SPIEC) in the component manufacturing (CM) industry, I would like to state a rebuttal to a published article “Confusion is Starting to Confuse Me” written by Carl Schoening in the May 2016 issue of The Advertiser.... Read More June 2016 Issue #09203 Page 18
High Density Housing’s Design Challenges Joe Kannapell The sweet spot of wood component supply is high dollar, high density housing. Beneath expensive finishes are complex structures, and the opportunity to gain significant value. With advanced whole house software, CM’s are able to model the mechanical systems as an integral part of the... Read More June 2016 Issue #09203 Page 22