In my experience and with the work I do with hundreds of component manufacturers, I find that many companies will tell me Safety is important, but, in practice, safety is treated as a burden on the company. Good managers will always have an attitude that they want all of their employees to be...

I read a book recently that discussed the term “benchmark” and its origins as relates to business. Surprisingly, the term originates within the history of guns and ammunition. In fact, with the same aim we use it today—comparison and improved performance. The book talked...

As an industry, there are many times I believe we have been behind the curve in adopting/taking on new technology or hardware in our operations. Over the past 15 years or so, we have seen incredible growth in the use of automation, software, etc., but other industries have far exceeded the...

As companies grow and change, we should ask ourselves—what are the essential pillars of support that help companies succeed? While making changes that will transform their businesses, successful companies will rely on core pillars that form the foundation of who they will be in the future....

What is the difference between companies which are stuck in the status quo and those which are transforming themselves into the leader in their industry? One significant difference is their focus on Continuous Improvement. By focusing on making things better—People, Projects, and...

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...

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...

While speaking at a recent conference, I was asked a really good question from one of the executives of a Component/LBM company. His question prompted me to think about how I would start 2018 off in my articles. The question was: “Our company does not have an incentive program in...

Part 9 in our TIMWOODS Series Hey TimWoods, it’s time to take a pause with your Gemba walk and talk about a Waste Reduction plan using what we learned in this series. Throughout this series, our friend TimWoods has helped us focus on the wastes of Transportation, Inventory, Motion,...

Part 8 in our TIMWOODS Series Our journey through the various waste topics in Lean brings us to the final letter in our series on TIMWOODS: Skills. Many companies, managers, and supervisors forget when improving their operations to look at their team and review how their skills are being...