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Many lumberyards still do not have their own wood truss and wall panel manufacturing as part of their offerings to their contractors but are contemplating whether this might be a good investment. There are pros and cons to this type of big investment; if you have been doing any research, you...

As I was pondering the latest loss of a great Truss Guy to “retirement” a thought began to rattle around in my head about all of the wonderful people I had a chance to work for, work with or simply enjoy a cocktail with over the years. Many of them retired or were retired, some we...

Truswal Systems Corp based out of the Dallas-Ft Worth region designed and built the first Rolsplicer in the early 80's. A revolutionary piece of equipment for its time when hydraulic units were populating the industry. Early marketing efforts even included a trailer mounted, traveling...

If you live in a wood frame home it was made with “wall panels”. No way? Way; because every wood frame home is built with “wall panels”. That’s right - wall panels have been used on every wood frame home since the onset of dimensional lumber and the invention of...

When folks hear the term audit, they generally think of an IRS audit. Not a pleasant thought. The term invokes an image of hot lights, endless questions, pouring over boxes of records, all in the attempt to find wrong doing on the part of the tax payer. When you consider a quality assurance...

The green building movement is inspiring an exciting new trend: reclaimed wood. Not only does using reclaimed wood help reduce the environmental impact of buildings and take discarded wood out of solid waste streams, but there is also a large opportunity being missed with the amount of...

Everyone wants to avoid trouble. We don’t want things to break down, and we don’t want to lose time and money. But sometimes, it’s the actions you can take before something goes wrong that will help you the most. That’s why a preventative maintenance program is important...

For the wood truss industry, the single most important component in a component plant is LUMBER. Nothing is as price volatile. Nothing else takes up more physical space. Nothing else requires more constant cash or credit line. Nothing impacts the physical appearance and structural integrity of...

Now is the time for you to prepare to move up in management.  Over the last 20 years, dozens of plants formerly run by “hands-on” owners are now run by managers.   During the recent recession, many management candidates left our business.  And in the next 10...

If you are anything like me, you were delighted with the new format and content of the January issue. Congratulations to Anna and Thom on producing a first rate resource periodical. I was delighted to see new articles by Carl Schoening at Eagle Metal Products, Sean Hubbard at Square 1 Design and...