Design Connections: “Making” a Truss Designer Geordie Secord Reading Thom’s article in last month’s issue, “JobLine Turns 30!”, brought back many great memories of the times I have worked with him. I’ve known Thom for over 25 years and worked with him numerous times, with one of our best projects being the training business... Read More December 2022 Issue #14281 Page 102
Through Buying, Selling, and Closing Yards, Dealers are Revealing Their Strategies Craig Webb ABC Supply is going to Canada. Lowe’s is leaving it. SRS Distribution continues to diversify. Builders FirstSource is right-sizing its company in advance of America’s expected home-building slump. And US LBM is still hungry for truss plants. These are among some of the strategic... Read More December 2022 Issue #14281 Page 106
Mechanical Anchors: Screw vs. Expansion: Which is Right for Me? Simpson Strong-Tie Staff Not all post-installed mechanical anchors are created equal. There are key differences between screw and expansion anchor types — differences that include how they gain their holding strength, installation requirements, and overall anchor performance. In the following article, field... Read More December 2022 Issue #14281 Page 124
The Last Word: The Last Word on Automated Material Handling Joe Kannapell With automated saws and auto-jigging tables, what remains is automated material handling, and that’s what we find at Builders FirstSource’s (BFS) Austin plant. House of Design’s (HoD) robotic roof line there extends the floor truss pre-plating methodology found at their Atlanta... Read More December 2022 Issue #14281 Page 144
Advertiser Forum: Thankful for the Little Things Anna Stamm November is a time when we can reflect and be thankful for many things in our lives. But the truth is – anytime of year gives us reasons to be thankful for little things, even when those things are silly or trivial. The Monkey Wrench in the Plans For reasons unknown, when I attempted... Read More November 2022 Issue #14280 Page 6
The Development of the Truss Plate, Part IV: Competition Intensifies Joe Kannapell After Cal Jureit’s impressive debut at the 1958 NAHB Show, lumberyards and builders across America were anxious to start trussing, but they encountered several obstacles. Their deluge of inquiries couldn’t all be answered, and most were far away from the South Florida source of... Read More November 2022 Issue #14280 Page 10
Reap the Rewards and Labor Savings From Wall Lines Wendy Boyd From the BCMC 2022 event, in which we displayed our Framing Line and several other pieces of machinery, it became apparent that our customers are hunting for ways to save labor and costs – which includes producing wall frames for their markets. We were overwhelmed in the Spida booth with... Read More November 2022 Issue #14280 Page 19
Labor Shortages Worse Than Most Understand and Automation is Not Going to Be the Cure-All Solution Todd Drummond Time and again, executives state they are having problems finding enough qualified people to staff all the needed positions within their company. The truth is that this problem will get much worse, and you need to understand why to fix it. TDC has found that companies with the best employee... Read More November 2022 Issue #14280 Page 24
Are You Removing the Connectors Carefully When Replacing Them? Glenn Traylor Face the facts—occasionally, it is necessary to replace connectors. It’s part of the manufacturing process. In my May 2016 article, Is There a Reduction For Plating in a Previously Plated Area?, we discuss the limitations and considerations of removing a plate, including upsizing the... Read More November 2022 Issue #14280 Page 33
Having a Plan for Tomorrow Tracy Roe The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is credited with the origin of the phrase, The only constant in life is change. This couldn’t be more true in the world we live and work in today. Whether we are enduring labor shortages, a global pandemic, material shortages, input cost increases, or an... Read More November 2022 Issue #14280 Page 44