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Too many get caught up in believing that any additional pay to employees is inherently costing the company more and should be avoided at every turn. If you believe this is the case, there is something you are overlooking. What may be lost is that when the total volume (productivity and sales) is...

How does a component manufacturer determine what fabrication tolerances should be used during truss design? To answer that question, we first need to clarify what is meant by “fabrication tolerance.” Per ANSI/TPI 1–2014, the guidance is 3.3.2 Fabrication Tolerance. All...

“Are you crazy? We are not going to move our saw! We cannot afford to shut down for weeks to turn things upside down.” Those are words I’ve heard more than once, but it turns out I am not crazy. Saws can be moved and the process improvement can be accomplished in days and not...

As you look to finance new or used equipment for your business, look beyond just the interest rate to find opportunity. Traditional banks may have their “Loan Sales,” but brokers can provide promotions offered by their numerous funding sources that far outshine what a bank can...

Developed by Jemcor Properties, The Village at Madrone is a 249-unit, 320,000 sf affordable housing development located in Morgan Hill, CA consisting of 14 building types with 3 floors of framing and a community clubhouse. Structural Engineering was led by NIC Structural Engineering Consultants....

Today, as an industry, we build faster, cut faster, design faster – thanks to technology and the automation it enables. The offsite construction industry is built on smarter design, more efficient fabrication. Whether in the office or on your plant floor, automation is very much a part of...

The first quarter of 2024 ended on a positive note, which hopefully will prove to be a solid foundation for the remainder of the year. Despite lingering inflation, the U.S. economy continued to show resilience and added increasing optimism for the much-sought-after “soft...

For over 30 years, I’ve been placing truss designers with companies for full and part-time employment. In all of that time, I have not placed 1099 subcontractors. Back in the day, this included candidates looking for a remote job, who were out of work, or who simply wanted to make a little...

Over the last couple of articles, I’ve spent some time discussing improvements that would improve both the energy efficiency and the ability of the truss system to withstand extreme weather conditions. If you’ve read those articles, you will know that I think it is ridiculous that we...

Establishing a truss design process that progresses seamlessly from start to finish serves as a critical backbone for efficiency and ensures essential quality control measures. While individual processes might vary from designer to designer, here is a sample step-by-step process. Resist the...