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Smart Manufacturing You have probably read articles, heard this term used by an equipment manufacturer, and even heard it at a Chamber of Commerce meeting or other local group. Smart Manufacturing covers a broad category of manufacturing with the goal of optimizing the process from concept,...

The parts won’t hold themselves up. They have to be fastened in place. In a previous entry in this series, Randy Shackelford, PE addressed selecting a joist hanger. This article focuses on the fasteners recommended for various wood connectors. For straps, holdowns, and other...

In a recent JobLine – Survey Monkey poll, we identified the top priorities that Truss Design candidates have when considering your opportunity. In the past, it took a 20–25% compensation increase to successfully recruit them, but post-crash, salaries have stagnated and employers are...

None of us had to ask Dwight Hikel how he has multiplied his truss business even though housing starts are lower today than when he started his business. Or how he survived three periods when housing starts dropped precipitously, including the most recent drought, when many predicted the demise...

Why don’t we take vacations more often? This month’s ‘Question’  is personal, and one that I asked myself more than once while I was on a family vacation up in New England last week to celebrate my Mom’s 80th birthday. You see, we spent much of the time...

The BCMC 2016 show is rapidly approaching!  For the independent manufacturers, it’s a large part of our annual marketing budget.  The event provides us the opportunity to showcase our equipment to a larger audience at a more economical price.  We encourage anyone interested...

Each month before writing this column, I reflect on interesting conversations I’ve had or news and stories I’ve heard. This month, however, I’m a bit more reflective than most. I think “there’s a story in there somewhere” though, so here’s the path that...

Those of us who have been around this industry long enough have a general feeling of cautious optimism. We have all been through the economic ups and downs, the building cycles, and all the rest. We have sat listening to economists at BCMC every year. We have read so many detailed articles over...

Two very distinct aspects of the bidding calculation could be costing your company tens of thousands of dollars. If you were shown a better bidding method, would you allow your pride to prevent you from testing it and, if it works, taking the time to embrace it to improve your company’s...

Once saw and table setups are automated, what about improving the rest of material handling? Can we lessen the 5 “touches” involved: fetching lumber, feeding saws, catching, transporting to tables, and feeding jigs? And can we better account for the cost of these indirect labor...