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With the recent passing of Tom Denig, which was not long after Gene Toombs’, we should take a moment to reflect on their stunning success, gained while working separately and together. They both took over highly technical companies in the early 1990s, Denig at Trus Joist and Toombs at...

It’s been a long time since I took driver’s training, so I honestly don’t recall if they did back then, but I wonder if today’s young drivers are told how important it is to realize that many people will NOT be following the rules of the road. I am 100%-positive that...

It wasn’t enough for Jack Schmitt, President of Truswal, to introduce wood-web floor trusses. He also had to demonstrate how to build them, and that required a special machine. Schmitt turned to his trusted associate, Carl Virta, to come up with a process, and Carl knew who could help him....

Determining the smartest time to buy machinery depends on various factors, including your specific needs, budget, market conditions, and the nature of machinery itself. When we have a conversation with our customers to help them determine their machinery requirements and decide whether it is...

The summertime build season is upon the industry. For most wood component manufacturers (CM), and other manufactured suppliers of building materials, the lead time of new orders typically easily exceeds four weeks. Inevitably, a salesperson will ask, “Hey, can you do me a favor? I have an...

Many years ago, early in my career as a truss designer, I was interrupted by the production manager. He loudly entered my office with a piece of 2 x 12 and a circular saw and abruptly slammed both on top of my drafting table that was sporting a newly created truss layout. (We did not have...

A greenfield truss plant is a rare opportunity to implement processes as designed within start-up constraints without the push-back of change by existing plant personnel. It is a breeze to teach and train new people to follow our process organization technology as laid out in a brand new plant....

As we venture further into the second half of this year, we have some important updates to share. After almost 17 years of dedicated service, Tim Kaasa, Panels Plus Lead Sales Representative will be retiring at the end of this year. We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere...

Economic activity, as we see it here at Acceptance Leasing and Financing Service, is robust. If the current pace of funded deals continues as it has for the first six months of 2023, we will have a banner year, surpassing any year in our 30-year history. We are funding transactions from a...

AI isn’t new, just in the national news lately. Recently, I visited a former student who did his PhD research on AI applications about 35 years ago at Texas A&M University. During our conversations, he shifted to the AI subject in his current work and suggested I try using...