Wood Components in Multi-Family Housing, Part One Joe Kannapell Part One: 1960 to 1979 Garden style apartments have been good for the truss business, but have morphed into an almost unrecognizable beast. In making this transition, component manufacturers have built on 40+ years of experience, and have conquered this beast, but not without... Read More March 2018 Issue #10224 Page 6
Technology, Progress, and Our Evolving Businesses Steve Shrader Technology certainly has changed the way I do my job. In fact, in many ways, it’s changed the entire industry I’ve chosen to build a career in. When I graduated with a Construction Management Degree, the construction industry was wide open. But selling production saws for the Wood... Read More March 2018 Issue #10224 Page 34
Break Through Your Box Ben Hershey How many times have you seen your competitor or other businesses in your area copy what you produce or offer? Maybe it is the kind of company that takes a photo of some trusses, puts themselves in front of it, and says, “Look at me, I am the same kind of company they are.” Flattery... Read More March 2018 Issue #10224 Page 43
IBS / NAHB 2018 Joe Kannapell Knowing that our future depends on builders is reason enough to attend their best exhibition, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) International Builders Show (IBS). Understanding the technology that they adopt, the changes impacting them, and the shape of their new products helps us... Read More February 2018 Issue #10223 Page 6
Disruptive Innovation with LBM/Component Companies Ben Hershey Over the years, our industry has seen a lot of innovation in how we handle materials, how we manufacture, and how we take a house from an idea to a component using the computer. But, over the past few years, we have seen an acceleration in big ideas, disruption, and what we can do using... Read More February 2018 Issue #10223 Page 46
The Last Word: Will the Component Industry Be Next? Joe Kannapell Disrupters have destroyed retail chains (Jeff Bezos at Amazon.com), threatened the car industry (Elon Musk at Tesla), and are now targeting the component industry (Bill Gates et. al.)? Mr. Gates and leading venture capitalists have placed separate bets totaling nearly a Billion dollars that they... Read More February 2018 Issue #10223 Page 107
BCMC 2017 Raising the Stakes in Omaha, NE April Burt The 36th annual BCMC show took place in late October at CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The location of the venue in relation to the downtown and hotels could not have been better. It was an easy walk across the sky bridge to the event center and a short ride to the old market area... Read More December 2017 Issue #10221 Page 16
Automating Wall Panel Production Joe Kannapell To expedite the adoption of pre-built wall panels, shop labor must be significantly lower than site labor. That means replacing hand-nailing, measuring, cutting, and manhandling with practices that have been proven in truss fabrication. In addition, major builders and reluctant framers demand... Read More December 2017 Issue #10221 Page 20
BCMC Innovations Joe Kannapell The quickening of innovation will be on display at BCMC this month, and, undoubtedly, so will be the uptake. Suppliers use this platform to launch new products, sometimes rather humbly. Art DePauw sold his prototype “automated” saw to two industry giants, Charlie Barnes and Dave... Read More October 2017 Issue #10219 Page 6
How to Maximize Your Time at BCMC 2017 Ben Hershey Trade shows are a great way to demonstrate products and to meet people face-to-face. They are very useful when you want to see products that require a demonstration or, as my brother Keith would say, “where you want to put your hand on the machine.” But there are even more reasons to... Read More October 2017 Issue #10219 Page 44