Take Action to Support Timber Innovation Robert Glowinski It’s that time of year again, when we observe National Forest Products Week during the third week of October. National Forest Products Week began in 1960 with Congress proclaiming “our country and its people have always found constant strength, individual peace, and personal pride... Read More October 2017 Issue #10219 Page 71
Advertiser Forum: Old (or Young) Dogs and New Tricks Anna Stamm They always say, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Okay, but do they really look at it from the dog’s point of view? Think about it. Hopefully, the dog is in a nice, comfortable routine. Then, here comes a person wanting him to do something new, which takes a lot... Read More September 2017 Issue #10218 Page 4
Pride Can Blind Us All From Seeing and Learning Things For Better Bottom Line Results Todd Drummond It has taken our industry quite a few years, but once again it is common for wood component companies for a 15%+ EBITDA in normal markets, in which the sales exceed a two-week lead time. Many are exceeding 20% EBITDA. Do you know how well your company did in comparison to the average? Perhaps... Read More September 2017 Issue #10218 Page 24
"If you're building walls, you have to check this out, mate!” Cullen Ellis Have you have taken the time to consider some of the most innovative machinery for building walls on the market today? The Spida wall extruder is not just a machine, it is a shift in the way we think about how walls are prefabricated in the industry. The production line has been around for a... Read More August 2017 Issue #10217 Page 10
The Last Word: Not the Last Word on Dick Marriott, Retiring President of MiTek Industries, Inc. Joe Kannapell You will search in vain, through the pantheon of sales leaders in the truss industry, for an equal to Richard H. Marriott. You will find contenders, like Charlie Harnden or Dave Chambers, though they left us too soon. You will find a handful of other 40 year veterans, like Dick, but none who... Read More August 2017 Issue #10217 Page 89
Panelization Automation Joe Kannapell The long overdue rebirth of domestic wall panel technology is finally upon us, as U.S. manufacturers have begun to innovate. For the last 30 years, they ceded the upper end of the market to the Europeans, and focused on manual framing and sheathing solutions. For the last 10 years, they have... Read More July 2017 Issue #10216 Page 6
The Last Word: The Last Word on Prospection Joe Kannapell What is driving the quest for automation besides the obvious? Surely it is not our preoccupation with the past, because that would recall the recent near-depression, and painful past calamities. Rather it is prospection, looking ahead, that explains much of our behavior, according to... Read More July 2017 Issue #10216 Page 99
Resurgence of Panelization? Joe Kannapell What future does the Blueprint Robotics factory in Baltimore portend for housing construction? This huge German plant certainly rivals Pulte’s former facility in the same market (shuttered in 2008). And it may even eclipse the robotics/automation going forward in multiple truss plants IF... Read More May 2017 Issue #10214 Page 6
Truss Robotics Joe Kannapell The path of factory innovation is leading us to automated systems rather than true robotics. Though industrial robotics has been used for 30 years in our industry, it has served mainly as a forerunner to later systems. Its earliest commercialization, the robotic arms of the Koskovich component... Read More April 2017 Issue #10213 Page 6
Growing Forward with Oregon Truss Mike Bugbee Oregon is one of the strongest building markets in the country, and Oregon Truss is preparing for the next chapter of our future. Thanks to our founder Wayne Beebe’s foresight to plan for expansion, we have a brand new factory that enables us to maintain normal lead times while our... Read More April 2017 Issue #10213 Page 34