For the nearly 1,500 attendees at the 2017 BCMC, a clear majority perused the Square 1 Design booth. Witnessing a more efficient way an individual person could stack more than four roof truss setups, or could produce more than 1,250 lineal feet of wall panels. It took considerable effort to...

A current trend in our industry is that the component manufacturers are being advised that one should have a fully automated lumber retrieval system linked to an automated linear saw that pushes the cut lumber directly to the assembly table with an auto puck system. This type of setup is often...

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...

Part 7 in our TIMWOODS series Reducing Over-Processing is a critical part of creating an efficient lean production/distribution company. As our friend Tim Woods has been guiding us through our lumber yards, manufacturing operations, and offices, we’ve seen a lot of wastes. Now...

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...

Part 6 in our TIMWOODS series Clearly, there are many different ways that people waste time, money, and resources, but throughout our series my objective is providing new ways for you to think about the opportunities in your operation. In previous articles, we’ve talked about the wastes...

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...

There is nothing like the scheduling of orders to bring out the worst in people. Timely delivery of orders naturally creates a division between salespeople on one side of the issue and production on the other. Management normally plays the role of referee, with a tendency to favor the...

How can we measure and improve employee productivity? It’s a common question now, one that I am often asked within the Component and LBM industry, but that wasn’t always the case. We’ve come a long way and learned a lot! Back in 1911, mechanical engineer Frederick W. Taylor,...

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...