What makes up a great Quality Assurance Program? As you’ll recall, I listed 9 essential components for good QA in an article last year, “How Does a Fabricator Gain From a 3rd Party Audit?”. It’s no surprise that each one is rooted in the personal, on-site interaction that...

To say that this experience has been like no other is a major understatement. This episode in our lives may have transformed our fundament concepts and habits. It will most likely have a long-term impact on the way we do business. Many businesses and advocates have thrown up their hands in...

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” Apparently, she never worked in a truss plant, where I think everyone will make them all at least once. But humor aside, let’s take a look at the...

Back in the days before Autoset C®, Matchpoint®, and Wizard®, truss set-ups and the truss profile were dependent on the truss builder’s ability to accurately jig the truss being built using cross reference information and data. For example, a heel to peak measurement was taken...

On a recent trip to Japan to observe construction manufacturing methods, I was struck by the amount of time a plant manager spends on the production floor. Comparing this Japanese methodology to our truss industry, our plant managers and upper management spend relatively little time engaged in...

Do you vertically stack your trusses or horizontally stack them? How does the method impact quality? How does it impact safety? Do you know the arguments for either preference? Almost as if it was a regional inclination, some areas of the US vertically stack their finished trusses and some areas...

Recently, I was asked to divert from my normal 3rd party agenda to make a special truss inspection. Although this seemed a little unusual, on occasion I am asked to do this sort of thing, so I didn’t pay it any mind. Normally, it’s a peculiar joint condition or a difficult plate...

Quality trusses with smooth splices help ensure quality ceilings and floor finishes, but several factors may affect their execution. It’s generally understood by most truss builders that, while creating chord splices on any truss, it’s important to maintain a flush plane surface...

Lasers can be exact, but their data can be misinterpreted. Having the equipment is only part of the equation—it also must be used and understood properly. For example, the connection in the photograph [See PDF or View in Full Issue] was misallocated. The plate should have been dropped...

At a recent TPI 3rd Party Audit, the In-Plant Inspector (IPI) and I were inspecting trusses coming off the line as is normal in an audit. A stacked truss caught my eye, mainly because the top plate did not line up with the plate on the opposite side of the truss. Upon careful examination, indeed...