Not quite 20 years ago I interviewed for a position of managing a metal plate connected wood truss manufacturing plant for Anderson Lumber, in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. For several years Anderson had been losing money from their truss operation and higher ups were searching for someone who...

I’m not just a teacher at my Whizard Summits, I’m also a student. I show up to each event ready to share my knowledge, but I also learn a lot from the companies who attend. The major thing I learn about at each of these events are the biggest challenges building material companies...

Prefabricated metal plate connected wood trusses captured me, as I became a sawyer in April of 1977. I quickly found it to be a totally fascinating industry and would venture out every evening, after work, to view new buildings using our trusses. I wanted to know how everything fit together....

New building sales across the US are way up, which shows in the long lead times of the wood truss and wall panel manufacturing companies for new orders. However, too many of these manufacturers are not showing healthy profits despite the long lead times. Lead times greater than four weeks are a...

Nearly every U.S. and Canadian metal plate connected wood truss manufacturer has one or more clients who either construct pole barns or sell kit packages. Not much excitement though in dealing with typical orders of usually anywhere from 4 to 10 trusses per building. Money can certainly be...

Sales-folk are plagued with an addiction to “get the order.” Deep down inside, we want ALL the orders. Unfortunately, for every sales person, there is an opponent who has the same desire...Get ‘em all. Egotistical human drive opened the door for masters of the art of selling...

There is a longer, quite fascinating tale to be pondered on the subject of this year’s historic western Canadian shipment backlog, however, for now let’s skip the conspiracy theories and stick to the confirmable facts. The source for this article’s information is the...

For many years, I have been beating the drum that board footage (BF) is an imperfect unit measurement that our industry should abandon. The better alternative is the proven method of time estimations which uses man-minutes (MM). Man-minutes are derived from time-in-motion practices that have...

As a follow up to our last article, How the DMAIC Process Helps Sustain Achievements and Drive Continuous Improvements, below is another example and case study based on the need to reduce design cycle time. After setting the parameters, I will outline the DMAIC Lean method and demonstrate how...

Most people have a mistaken belief that my services are all about making component manufacturing more efficient. Actually, more than half my time during a consultation is taken up reviewing things like management practices and the sales process. Fact is, sales—correction, healthy...