Library

While the biggest question about preferences in our industry isn’t about which calculator truss designers prefer, this month’s topic is just that. Over the past 20+ years, JobLine has run a survey asking Truss Designers what their calculator of choice is. While there are many...

Looking Around the Corner LEST WE NOT FORGET... the current lumber market condition is the by-product of a major disruption, not a lasting trend. The disruption consists of the following. Accelerated millennial transition from urban to suburban areas. This has created another...

As more builders, developers, and customers begin using modular construction instead of just thinking about it, the existing modular housing industry is being pushed, pulled, and thrown into a new reality. Too Much Demand! How can that be a bad thing? It can if there are very few new...

Traffic jams at America’s ports, railroad terminals, and trucking centers all indicate that the supply headaches you suffered last year are likely to continue until deep into spring. Products from China that you sell are most at risk, but goods produced in North America also are having...

With the introduction of the Simpson Strong-Tie Yield-Link® moment connection for steel construction, the engineering and software development teams at Simpson Strong-Tie created multiple design tools to support users in their specification of the Yield-Link technology. These tools range...

Countless outstanding individuals have built this industry. Sadly, two of them have recently passed away: Don Butcher, co-founder of Heart Truss & Engineering, and Craig Aufderhar, Sales Executive of Trussway. Please read more of their exemplary personal lives via the links below. But also,...

As the holiday season recedes to our memories, I find myself wondering: “Will I ever receive my missing Christmas cards?” Yes, I know for a fact that at least two Christmas cards are still out there, somewhere. Maybe they’re in a sorting facility. Maybe they were...

A “hex” descended upon the component saw business at BCMC in 1981. Fortunately, this hex turned out to be a good “spell,” one that quickened the search for a machine that could cut any piece. Speed Cut, Inc. introduced the Timbermill, a 6-bladed (or hex-headed) solution...

Being in this industry for the last 16 years, I’ve been inside many panel fabrication shops. The one thing they all have in common is the requirement to accurately cut and mark wall components which are then put together as a complete frame. The original and most simple way to achieve this...

Our industry has been changing in a big way. Independents once dominated our industry, but now through mergers and acquisitions, that is no longer the case. Right now, some of the people reading this article are either contemplating or in actual talks about selling their business. From...