Pride Can Blind Us All From Seeing and Learning Things For Better Bottom Line Results Todd Drummond It has taken our industry quite a few years, but once again it is common for wood component companies for a 15%+ EBITDA in normal markets, in which the sales exceed a two-week lead time. Many are exceeding 20% EBITDA. Do you know how well your company did in comparison to the average? Perhaps... Read More September 2017 Issue #10218 Page 24
Wages and Productivity Todd Drummond For many companies, properly staffing and retaining employees to meet their needs is a never-ending struggle. Let’s summarize what human resources gurus require years of training to understand and disseminate it to the masses for better results. Let us start by understanding some basic... Read More August 2017 Issue #10217 Page 24
Production Scheduling Problems? Todd Drummond There is nothing like the scheduling of orders to bring out the worst in people. Timely delivery of orders naturally creates a division between salespeople on one side of the issue and production on the other. Management normally plays the role of referee, with a tendency to favor the... Read More July 2017 Issue #10216 Page 24
Three Practical Ideas for Better Margins and Net Profits Todd Drummond Too often a repeated mantra within our industry is that everyone sells components at too-low margins. The blame is always on the other guy, meaning the competitor, for selling at a lower margin than what should be market pricing. Well, what can your company do to raise margin pricing? During... Read More June 2017 Issue #10215 Page 24
Willful Blindness Culture Todd Drummond Willful blindness is the common practice of knowing that something is wrong, but either pretending that the problem does not exist, or being unwilling to make a change or even discuss the issue. I was inspired by a TED talk video about the willful blindness of the town residents of Libby,... Read More May 2017 Issue #10214 Page 24
Design, Sales, and Admin Labor Shortages? – Give Them More Time by Automating Your Communications! Todd Drummond The call for more designers, salespeople and just about every other admin personnel is getting louder by the day. There are not enough hours in the week to meet sales demands. What if you could provide your team with tools that would give them more time? This way, you could save money by having... Read More April 2017 Issue #10213 Page 26
Component Manufacturing a Cash Cow Division Todd Drummond In the wood truss component industry, we have the independents, who are not associated with lumberyards, and then we have those who are owned by lumberyards. What I found striking is that the lumberyard owned and operated component manufacturers (CMs) consistently make far less money than the... Read More March 2017 Issue #10212 Page 26
Off–site Designing and Sales: The Three Biggest Obstacles Todd Drummond What once was frowned upon has now become very common. Off-site designing and off-site sales individuals or teams can be a very good way to expand your company’s capabilities. The biggest driver of its emerging acceptability is the fact that the pool of talent is larger when looking... Read More February 2017 Issue #10211 Page 24
Simple Truths for the New Year Todd Drummond Lean manufacturing principles help people break through their mindset by helping people challenge what they perceive is an absolute. Beside equipment upgrades, how long has your group been doing what they are doing without any changes or refinements to the methods in other areas besides the... Read More January 2017 Issue #10210 Page 24
A Critical Part Missing from Six Sigma and Lean Practices for Most Companies Todd Drummond It has taken many years, but the component industry has finally caught onto the practices of lean manufacturing and applied them to truss and wall manufacturing. An example is the huge turnout at the sponsored seminars by Todd Drummond Consulting at the 2016 BCMC show of “The Path of Least... Read More December 2016 Issue #09209 Page 22