With the forecasted housing backlog and ongoing tight labor market, shouldn’t all truss plants be modernizing by investing in automation? That is easier said than done. One strategy to modernize is to automate with incremental investments. In my experience, the best way to get over the...

Just when you have calculated your traditional CapEx ROI saying “Yes,” you cannot pass “Go” until 2023 because your new machinery lead time is a year away.  Now what? Now you should prepare for it! Instead of focusing on the wait, get better organized before your...

In today’s volatile economy, there is comfort in knowing the significant housing backlog will rely on the components industry to keep on supplying. Trusses are the original off-site construction industry begun more than 60 years ago, and the number of truss plants and capital investments...

Trusses are complicated yet the fabrication description is quite simple – pick the lumber, cut the lumber, and assemble the lumber. Now try doing this profitably at high volume and you will need to automate some or all of these processes, which all truss plants have done within their...

Can you spot the Lumber PickLine in the satellite image? Contrary to the myth that it will “take up too much space,” a lumber PickLine can actually save space by utilizing existing truck lanes and by following existing forklift flow. For example, this outside PickLine has ample 35 ft...

My January article, Optimize Your Saw with a Lumber PickLine, focused on “Feeding the Beast!” and replacing inefficient, expensive, and labor-intensive “forklift lumber picking” with our improved material handling system. Then, my February article, Threading the Needle...

February means different things to different people – Valentine’s Day, the Super Bowl, Family Day (in Canada) – but to me, February is also the anniversary of my most complicated and challenging installation. What’s more, the installation was completed in the middle of...

Feed the Beast! That’s what I call it — and that’s what I suggest to every component manufacturer striving to optimize their plant. A Lumber PickLine will ensure that your saw never goes hungry for lumber. Using inefficient, expensive, and labor-intensive “forklift...

Every year, I assist with, on average, 20 plant upgrades. Although each one is unique, they have certain things in common. Most importantly, these component manufacturers have agreed that they want to capture greater efficiencies and maximize their production with customized and optimized best...

Every component manufacturer has actively implemented lean and best practices customized and optimized to their existing personnel, plant machinery, plant layout, yard layout, and plate supplier’s software. Most component manufacturers are operating as efficiently as possible within their...