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When the first automobiles began showing up on the streets more than 100 years ago, most were built in barns and warehouses one at a time. There were no car dealers as the two or three person shop that built them also sold them. Car builders began popping up in every small town in the...

Like scientists tracking a slow-moving glacier, a leading pollster of America’s builders is seeing signs that contractors’ views are warming when it comes to off-site construction. The research by Ed Hudson, director of market research at the Home Innovation Research Labs,...

Many years ago, one of my closest friends was discussing career choices with his father and in that conversation, his father told him something that I thought was on point, and profound. He said: “Even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat…” There are...

At Simpson Strong-Tie, we’re always seeking out new opportunities for innovation while helping customers find solutions to new challenges. In fact, “relentless customer focus” and “risk-taking innovation” are two of our nine company values. These two values recently...

Take it from me, being there is half of the battle, and Zoom meetings don’t count. This was true 50 years ago when I was working in our office, and it was true last week when I was in front of customers. There may be a price to pay, but the dividends will surely come back to you, as they...

Last month, Joe Kannapell took us on a terrific tour of BCMCs past in his column, The Last Word on 2020 BCMC – Virtually! Because we cannot attend an in-person BCMC show this fall, I’ve been thinking about ways to capture some of the spirit of BCMC. Step 1. See Products Without...

Clyde Fredrickson, a CM in the remote reaches of South Dakota, was determined to find a cheaper solution to the $250,000+ auto-jigging systems. So, he worked through several alternate ways to shorten setup times, like printing out Jigset coordinates, and moving pucks manually to designated...

Let’s face it, when a supplier to the industry has been around for a long time, decades in our case, there are certain values that we live by. These values are the support structure on which we build our business. I believe it’s called “commitment to the cause,” or as...

Gene Toombs, the man who made MiTek, passed away suddenly September 25. He was 79 years old. When he came to us at age 49, there was no MiTek, just a conflicted company offering old software and obsolete machines. How could he help us, I wondered, when I first met him at our failing plant...

Last month’s article, “Better Profits with Effective Employee Retention and Growth,” got a lot of attention. The labor shortage issues that companies are experiencing, despite the high unemployment numbers, are having a negative impact on many companies’ manufacturing...