Spida Machinery’s Automated Apollo Saw—Evolution Tony McCoy Back in the fall of 2001, when I was a component manufacturer, Bevan Lines, Director of Spida Machinery, came to a sales meeting in Southaven, MS, to introduce our sales team to the first automated pull saw in the truss industry — the Computerized Spida Saw, better known as the CSS. The... Read More April 2023 Issue #15285 Page 17
A Tailor-Made Lean Lumber Picking Solution Edmond Lim, P.Eng. The implementation of a Lumber PickLine is a quick study in lean manufacturing tailor-made for each component plant’s building constraints and saws. A Lumber PickLine can semi-automatically feed any linear saw or any component saw. A saw that is fed lumber from a PickLine is a just-in-time... Read More April 2023 Issue #15285 Page 47
Vekta Continues Growing Its Family With Framequip Rob Bellian Have you heard the news? Vekta has merged with fellow Aussie, Framequip! As you know, Vekta Automation, headquartered in Perth, Australia, is a global technology solutions leader specializing in quality automation systems for the timber frame and truss industry. Now, we’ve joined forces... Read More March 2023 Issue #15284 Page 53
Creating Solutions with Labor-Saving Equipment Wendy Boyd When arriving back to work after Christmas holidays, I had a few hundred emails to work through and a multitude of other tasks to conquer so I’d be up to speed again for 2023. One of the most compelling emails I had was from a Truss and Wall Fabricator who was appealing to me to help solve... Read More February 2023 Issue #15283 Page 17
Money Hides Many Sins (Waste) Todd Drummond A trending DIY post shows a long sequence of nail holes alongside a wall-mounted TV with a caption that says, “I knew that stud was in there somewhere.” Meant to be a humorous poke at the times when we’ve attempted new projects, it reveals how sometimes we might not have been... Read More February 2023 Issue #15283 Page 24
Dependability in an Uncertain Environment Tracy Roe The most popular outlook for 2023 that I have heard is uncertainty. Nobody has a clear picture of what the new year will bring for our industry. Large investments have been made in talent, equipment, and infrastructure to capitalize on the increased demand over the past two years. What about... Read More February 2023 Issue #15283 Page 42
The Last Word: The Last Word on The Last Pioneers Joe Kannapell Joe Hardy of 84 Lumber was the last of the World War II veterans to whom we owe our industry. Ed Ryan of Ryan Homes (now NVR) and Cal Jureit of Gang-Nail (now MiTek) were also major contributors. All three returned from winning that war with a drive to transform home building, and they helped... Read More February 2023 Issue #15283 Page 136
TrueBuild® Batch – Time Is Money Tracy Roe Now more than ever, every process, every motion, literally every minute counts for a component manufacturer. The saying “Time Is Money” couldn’t be more true in our industry. Ultimately, a component manufacturer is simply selling time. They are selling the value they add to raw... Read More January 2023 Issue #15282 Page 19
Don’t Be Blind to Simple Truths for the 2023 Build Season Todd Drummond An article written and published by Russ Kathrein on LinkedIn, “The Eyes See What the Brain Believes,” struck a nerve for me. In summary, the statement “believe it when I see it” is more often than not false. As someone who has made a living assisting others for over... Read More January 2023 Issue #15282 Page 26
Are You Making Correct Substitutions and Placements When Upsizing Connectors? Glenn Traylor Sometimes it is necessary to deviate from the truss design drawing and use a different connector. This may happen when a specific size connector is not available or when the original connector has been removed. Per ANSI/TPI 1 Section 3.6.3, a metal connector can be substituted if the new... Read More January 2023 Issue #15282 Page 35