Celebrating 50 Years of Truss Design Innovation Joe Kannapell Part VIII: Layout Without Windows At BCMC in Jacksonville in 1990, the PC had begun to “steal the show,” especially that of the upstart A.C.E.S. Their layout program was a quantum leap over the decade old work of C&G Micrographics on the Apple Computer. It also had several... Read More March 2019 Issue #11236 Page 8
The Drummond Short Schedule Time-Standard System Todd Drummond 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:... Read More March 2019 Issue #11236 Page 39
Celebrating 50 Years of Truss Design Innovation Joe Kannapell Part VII: A Computer for Every Designer In 1980, for the first time, I witnessed the PC doing trusses. Then, over the next 10 years, I watched that machine take over every designer’s desktop. Getting to that end, though, wasn’t easy. Unprecedented technological change roiled our... Read More February 2019 Issue #11235 Page 8
Too Many Companies Struggle with Making Process Changes Todd Drummond 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... Read More February 2019 Issue #11235 Page 18
How Does a Fabricator Gain From a 3rd Party Audit? Glenn Traylor When a 3rd party inspector inspects a licensed plant, what exactly are the auditors looking for? And what can the fabricator get from the experience? What the inspection is NOT, and why that matters: The part 1 audit of the in-house paperwork is not a grade on neatness. It’s an... Read More February 2019 Issue #11235 Page 34
Close the Gap on Lean Initiatives Ben Hershey When I’m asked why I chose a set of puzzle pieces for the 4Ward Consulting team logo, I’m glad to explain that fitting the pieces together has always been a part of my approach to business, my own and those I have assisted. We have teams, divisions, branches, departments, etc.... Read More February 2019 Issue #11235 Page 38
AWC Releases Third Environment, Energy, and Safety Report Robert Glowinski In late 2018, the American Wood Council released its third biannual AWC Environment, Energy and Safety: Industry Progress Report. Compiled from data collected over the last decade, the report shows that there have been significant improvements by the industry in these three areas, even despite... Read More February 2019 Issue #11235 Page 80
Celebrating 50 Years of Truss Design, Part VI Joe Kannapell Part VI: Desktop Engineering Rocks the Design World One man, an accomplished CM, set out to ramp-up the efficiency of truss designers in the Eighties: Mr. Leonard Sylk. He did it by pioneering the in-house computer, and its user-friendly software. By use of this tool, he envisioned a plant... Read More January 2019 Issue #11234 Page 8
Taking Steps Toward Manufacturing & Distribution Efficiency Ben Hershey As we start the New Year, a focus of many operations will be setting goals to remain competitive. Today’s companies in the LBM/Component/Modular market are looking for ways to drive efficiencies throughout their manufacturing processes. Extending Lean Manufacturing principles and practices... Read More January 2019 Issue #11234 Page 17
Celebrating 50 Years of Truss Design, Part V Joe Kannapell Part V: A Prequel to Hands-On Design When Lou Lewis showed our engineers his $395 HP35 calculator in 1973, they barely blinked, but several in the truss industry did recognize its value. Perhaps we were too focused on our mainframe computer, and too invested in the programs that we had... Read More December 2018 Issue #10233 Page 8