What Can We Do About Missing Connector Plates? Glenn Traylor Previously, we’ve reviewed the top manufacturers’ defects according to a survey of In-house inspections. (See my April 2020 article, “How Do Your Manufacturing Errors Rank on the List?”, for the top ten items and ways to correct them.) While wane in the plated area topped... Read More February 2022 Issue #14271 Page 43
Manufacturing Insights to Power Your Team Douglas Krauss Making performance visible and easily tracked powers your team members with the knowledge of achievements and areas for improvement. I’ve spent my career working in a variety of manufacturing roles. Here’s what I’ve learned: Knowledge is key. I believe it’s crucial... Read More November 2021 Issue #13268 Page 64
MiTek Measures Seismic Forces to Develop Stronger, Safer Products Katie Kormann MiTek, a building industry innovator and enabler, continues to uncover ways to improve efficiencies and transform the building industry with better building solutions. In its latest endeavor, MiTek has designed and built a custom piece of equipment to perform lateral-load testing on walls that... Read More October 2021 Issue #13267 Page 56
Is Your Equipment Up to the Challenge? Glenn Traylor Let’s face some facts. Eventually your truss building equipment needs repair or replacement. Exactly when do you pull the trigger? When do you take the big jump? In a perfect world with endless resources, it’s an easy calculation—replace or repair the equipment when there is a... Read More September 2021 Issue #13266 Page 47
Sixty Years of Machines, Part XXI: Rebirth of the Linear Saw Joe Kannapell Entering the new Millennium, the linear fed saw needed to be reborn. Though CMs had boosted productivity with bolted-on improvements to their Metra-Cut type saws, they still couldn’t keep up with automated component saws. Yet they remained an essential part of the saw shop, even though... Read More August 2021 Issue #13265 Page 10
What are Mill Cuts and How Do They Impact Structure? Glenn Traylor Mill cuts are common in our lumber today, especially with machine evaluated lumber, so it is important to know how they should be addressed and used in your product. Mill cuts are random saw cuts or planer cuts not intended to have been made. Sometimes they do not present a problem. Other... Read More August 2021 Issue #13265 Page 43
Is One Cut the Same as Two? Glenn Traylor On a recent plant visit, we came across a situation that is hopefully rare. The truss builders had hand-cut floor truss webs at the table in several places because the webs provided with the cutting were mis-cut. The result: a truss that might “look” okay but would not be safe to... Read More July 2021 Issue #13264 Page 43
Set Up for Success: The Build Phase of Design, Make, Build Katie Kormann In the Design, Make, Build (DMB) approach to construction, we’ve focused on the importance of collaboration. By bringing together the component manufacturers (CMs) and trades with the designers and architects early in the Design phase, they can provide feedback on what is possible around... Read More July 2021 Issue #13264 Page 60
Can Designs Be Modified During Truss Manufacture? Glenn Traylor The simple answer to the title question, can designs be changed during manufacturing, is yes. But, the situation is rarely straightforward and simple in reality. The better question is: What considerations are necessary when making modifications to the design while manufacturing a truss? To... Read More June 2021 Issue #13263 Page 41
Automating Production with a Direct Delivery System Ed Serrano If you Google images of “automated production lines,” the results are filled with pictures of robot arms and conveyor lines. What you won’t see – people. Why? Because in automated production lines, humans tend to touch the work in progress as little as possible. Why?... Read More June 2021 Issue #13263 Page 58