What are companies doing these days with the uncertain rise of COVID variants? They’re hoarding cash! According to an updated Wall Street Journal article published on August 16, 2021 by Anna Hirtenstein, companies are sitting on record levels of cash, and ramping up their requests for...

Suppose you want an effective incentive program that improves productivity, saves your company labor cost, and rewards your most valued production crews with additional wages. Perhaps you also want to improve the accuracy of your production scheduling that allows for a proper understanding of...

Every year, I assist with, on average, 20 plant upgrades. Although each one is unique, they have certain things in common. Most importantly, these component manufacturers have agreed that they want to capture greater efficiencies and maximize their production with customized and optimized best...

Understanding the do’s and don’ts for component manufacturing (CM) equipment purchasing (wood trusses and wall panels) can save or waste your company 100’s of thousands of dollars at the time of purchase and long after. Everyone knows the building economy is on fire, so it...

As prefab manufacturing continues to have a spotlight thrust upon it, new factories are popping up nationwide. If you have ever been a part of a new factory startup, you probably have the scars to prove it – mentally, emotionally, and physically. Every new factory startup is a lot of work...

In this series of articles focused on job management, the main theme has been adaptability. Component fabricators shouldn’t be required to adapt their operation to a piece of software. Instead, the value is in a software solution that adapts to their needs. No two component manufacturing...

The building industry is once again on fire, and too many are stating, “I don’t have enough time” all too often. If your group is always talking about needing more people, equipment, and time, improving time management would undoubtedly benefit you. Improving time management...

The new 2021 build season is upon us, and everyone seems to be excited about the 2021 opportunities that seem apparent with the robust build economy. Many companies had their most profitable year in 2020, yet others struggled, stating that commodity pricing and covid were their major negative...

In his March 22, 2021 piece in the Wall Street Journal, Jon Hilsenrath’s article title says it all: “Stimulus Checks Have Left U.S. Households Ready to Spend.” Apparently, a lot of study has gone into how the population spends their cash windfalls, and the trend is...

One of the words most often heard when talking about the modular construction industry is “capacity.” Webster defines it as “the amount that something can produce.” Somehow that just doesn’t seem like the right definition for modular construction. One of the...