WTS and HoD Team Up to Bring Innovation to the Industry Joe Halteman Wood Tech Systems (WTS) has traveled thousands of miles and spent several years researching robotics while trying to find the best fit for the North American wood component industry. There have been many challenges in our industry when it comes to integrating robotics, but the biggest one in my... Read More December 2023 Issue #15293 Page 50
Taking a Look at the Section 179 Deduction Carl Villella As the fiscal year draws to a close, it may be worth considering Section 179 to lower your tax burden for 2023. To refresh your memory, Section 179 allows a business to deduct the full purchase price of certain equipment for the year it was put in service. By deducting the full purchase... Read More December 2023 Issue #15293 Page 57
Is The Customer Always Right? Landon Boucher I was taught early on in my career something referred to as the “Four Nevers of Customer Service”: Never Argue with The Customer. Never Make a Big Deal Out of a Complaint. Never Put The Customer on the Defense. Never Make Excuses. I was also taught something called... Read More December 2023 Issue #15293 Page 62
Species Substitution: Lean into the Full Flexibility of MSR Lumber MSR Lumber Producers Council MSR Lumber has a long history of being the right choice for component manufacturers. This reliable and consistent lumber grading system revolutionized the construction industry when it was introduced to the market in the 1960s, and it continues to be a mainstay for truss producers decades... Read More December 2023 Issue #15293 Page 74
Building Your Own Home, Part X: Final Thoughts In this final article about building our home, let’s talk about money and scheduling. We wanted our dream home to have the highest quality we could afford, built on time, without overspending. Here’s how we did it. Budgeting, tracking expenses, and cost accounting are in my DNA.... Read More December 2023 Issue #15293 Page 82
Design Connections: My Letter to Santa for 2024 Geordie Secord As this issue of The Advertiser is being published December 1st, I thought I would share my wish list for truss and component manufacturers this year. Feel free to use this in your letter to Santa, too! Dear Santa, I promise I tried to be a good component designer this past year. My... Read More December 2023 Issue #15293 Page 88
Important Quality Checks During Each Stage of Truss Manufacturing Alpine Team Quality control starts before the first piece of lumber is set into motion. Every employee at each phase of component design and manufacturing plays a critical role to help avoid costly repairs, potential frustration, and additional workload. As an engineer that has seen many repairs, here are a... Read More December 2023 Issue #15293 Page 92
Installation Tolerances MiTek Staff Oftentimes, MiTek engineers are getting requests for repairs of trusses installed out of plumb. This is a common installation issue and has some allowable tolerances. Tolerance is critical for both a good roofline and effective bracing. Exceeded erection tolerance can cause overloading,... Read More December 2023 Issue #15293 Page 97
Innovation Redefined: The Future of Structural Testing with Our Million Pound Rig Simpson Strong-Tie Staff The future of full-scale structures testing and product development is here – and it is BIG. Our Tyrell Gilb Research Laboratory built a brand-new Million Pound Rig to help in the testing of our new Yield-Link® brace connection (YLBC), along with our many other products. Hear from Mike... Read More December 2023 Issue #15293 Page 102
The Last Word: The Concrete Truss Machine Joe Kannapell New inventions may fade away, but most provide valuable lessons, like the concrete truss machine. Not many of these were built, but they seemed to Cal Jureit to be the logical match for his new truss plate, and they set the course for all his future machines. Jureit had to have been... Read More December 2023 Issue #15293 Page 134