Too much pressure is not only a problem in our lives, it can also be a problem in our plants. One of the most important issues when manufacturing quality trusses is plate embedment. Without proper embedment, the connector plate cannot adequately transfer load forces through the members down to...

When you look at this photo, what do you see? The photo is an actual picture taken during a plant audit, but just imagine this was taken at your truss plant. In the photo, the second side of the floor truss is set up in the floor machine with the connector plate positioned and ready to receive...

It’s true that, by nature, the materials currently used for wood trusses can vary in strength and properties. Given a specific lumber size and grade, truss builders often need to evaluate lumber picked, cut, and provided to build the specific job at hand. After verifying the lumber grade,...

Part 9 in our TIMWOODS Series Hey TimWoods, it’s time to take a pause with your Gemba walk and talk about a Waste Reduction plan using what we learned in this series. Throughout this series, our friend TimWoods has helped us focus on the wastes of Transportation, Inventory, Motion,...

In the United States, we are blessed with an abundance of quality building materials we may chose to use while fabricating our wood truss products. As long as we are able to confidently predict lumber values and our truss design software has the proper values entered, we can be assured a quality...

With today’s complex profiles and configurations, many truss fabricators have been relying on staples to set assembly member contact and relationships. Stapling serves as a temporary means to insure tight joints and accurate locations. Often times, however, because of the ease of multiple...

The knowledge we take for granted today on MSR lumber is due in large part to the pioneering work of Professor Robert Hoyle, P.E. In the early 1960s at Potlatch Forest, Inc., he conducted basic research on the relationship between stiffness and strength of lumber, paving the way for the MSR...

There are many methods that are employed to help insure proper plate placement. Perhaps no technology has had a greater impact than ink jetting truss components with plate size and location. Ink jetting plate data can help you reduce necessary plate sizes resulting in plate cost reductions....

The answer might surprise you. During the course of fabricating trusses, on occasion a plate is not completely pressed. As the truss comes out of the finish roller or hydraulic press, the plate sometimes does not get pressed all the way. Sometimes the plate is missed or removed and up plated....

Since 2003, deck researchers and representatives of the code community have worked to improve and expand the deck provisions in the International Residential Code (IRC). I believe the deck-related provisions of the 2015 IRC, coupled with best practices in the American Wood Council DCA6-2012,...