Using Man-Minutes to Manage Your Labor Industrial engineering – “The branch of engineering that is concerned with the production of industrial goods, especially by the design of efficient plants and procedures and the management of materials, energy, and labor.” (Source:...

A statement far too managers make is that they are not able to get their employees to embrace change. If your company struggles with making changes in any given area, just keep in mind that real change always comes from the top down. If your company is struggling with change and you are the top...

After recently upgrading to a newer vehicle, I have been amazed at the new safety features. While it’s not self-driving, the features are definitely approaching an autonomous car. The basic functions are things like active cruise control with the “stop&go” function, which...

Another year has come and gone, and what an invigorating year it has been for most companies. Net profits after taxes for most component manufacturers were in the high teens to mid-twenties—at least for those who do not allow for never-ending excuses. Once again, it is time to reevaluate...

“Everything and everyone deserves a second chance.” That’s the philosophy of Second Chance Inc., a Baltimore-based non-profit that deconstructs homes and other buildings to salvage materials for reuse. It’s also a philosophy that the American Wood Council (AWC)...

“Good judgement comes from experience. And experience? Well that comes from poor judgement.” Some of us are old enough to remember Dean Martin. Whether he stated this quotation about experience and poor judgment, I will never know. But let’s face facts—it has...

BCMC 2018 topped even the 1973 Show. At the Louisville fairgrounds back then, we also sold a record amount of truss machinery, but under vastly different conditions in the U.S. Housing starts had just peaked at 2.4 Million units, nearly twice current levels and 20% higher than any level since...

Our industry has been ignoring and not understanding 51% of the population’s needs—specifically, those of women therefore limiting the qualified candidates to fill vital openings

Part Five: Monoliths of the Millennium The movement to taller and broader apartment buildings has impacted every component manufacturer. One such project may occupy estimators and designers for weeks at a time, may overwhelm production, and may confound shipping. It may crowd out smaller...

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...