Library

Nothing is more frustrating than dealing with poor services by a department within your company or a vendor when you need to resolve a problem or find information on a timely basis. However, what is even worse than the poor services is having that troubled group in complete denial about their...

Year after year, too many companies suffer needlessly with the same common problems. Even after making new equipment investments and receiving assurances that things will be different, the old issues keep rearing their heads. !  Even with the additional equipment investment, production...

Establishing a proper margin to maximize profits for your roof truss component sales is not as easy as most people think. Most do not have a clear understanding of how small changes make a significant impact on the company’s profitability. Making the most profits possible, no matter what...

It seems some people are upset that I made such a public statement with my latest advertisement – “Pairing a Linear Saw with Two Workstations with Each Having Two Assemblers will Cost Your Company Millions in Lost Net Profits.” Specifically, I’m talking about linking...

Anyone who knows me to any degree will tell you I am not a sports fan. I do not follow any professional sports or know much about the players and culture. So it may surprise you to have me compare component manufacturing (CM) to baseball. To be honest, I mean to compare the management practices...

An anonymous former lumberyard CEO of 17 lumberyard locations (LBM) explained to me that his two component manufacturing (CM) plants made up only 10% of his sales yet contributed 30% of his net profits. He wished he had given the CM division far more focus and resources. As a guru for process...

Did you know that, even though setting wall panels saves an average of eleven days compared to traditional stick-framing of walls, the overall home completion can have an average savings of 30 days when wall panels have been used? For the home builders, every day a home is completed sooner can...

Even though the new build season of 2020 is expected to be a good one for most, it likely will be more challenging to retain net profits than many anticipate. Most component manufacturers (CM) have been buying equipment and expanding their operations like crazy. Also, new money has flooded into...

Last month’s article, “Investment in Employee Training, Not Just Equipment,” produced a lot of good responses from many readers. Now it is time to offer real solutions to help your company improve productivity and reduce costly errors for your sales team and also all of the...

Is your company’s budget only for new equipment, but no formal training for your employees? Any time you think about investing for productivity gains, often the first thing that comes to mind is investing in new equipment. All too often, we think we see the situation clearly and can make...

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...

In the almost 20 years of my consulting services, TDC has witnessed that the highest performing companies with the highest profit as a percentage of sales, generally in the high teens to mid-twenties, are the same companies with very low employee turnover. However, it is far more than just...