Increasing CLT Options and Supply Steve Shrader Everyone is hearing a lot about CLT, a.k.a. cross laminated timber, these days, so customers are starting to ask their suppliers if more options are available for their use too. Well, wanting to use CLT means that you will need a reliable supply of CLT – and Hundegger has taken great... Read More February 2023 Issue #15283 Page 62
Turning Supply Chain Constraints Into Opportunities Edmond Lim, P.Eng. Looking back at my articles in 2022, have you noticed what several have in common? Consider the plants featured in these stories: United Edge Structural Components, “In-Line Truss Production Starts With Lumber Picking” (December) United Truss, “The Most Automated, Most... Read More January 2023 Issue #15282 Page 52
In Memoriam: In Memory of a Machinery Master Joe Kannapell, PE Pat Linton was a MiTek original, like none other, with his hands on and his arms around MiTek equipment for 44 years. He led by example, with the utmost humility, and was a key player in elevating MiTek machinery from mediocrity to magnificence. And his start, assembling two of the truss... Read More January 2023 Issue #15282 Page 86
Innovation, Pride, Passion, Professionalism Wendy Boyd Generally speaking, I write most of the editorials for Component Advertiser – but when I was speaking to Tony McCoy, our Sales Manager from Texas and South Central, he asked if he could write an article from the heart, and I just couldn’t resist publishing his thoughts. Tony has been... Read More December 2022 Issue #14281 Page 19
In-Line Truss Production Starts With Lumber Picking Edmond Lim, P.Eng. This month, we get a sneak peek at a greenfield truss plant that drank from the same punch bowl as some established truss plants to Feed the Beast! Previous articles have highlighted existing truss plants that have literally banked on Enventek’s proven in-line lean manufacturing system to... Read More December 2022 Issue #14281 Page 54
The Last Word: The Last Word on Automated Material Handling Joe Kannapell, PE With automated saws and auto-jigging tables, what remains is automated material handling, and that’s what we find at Builders FirstSource’s (BFS) Austin plant. House of Design’s (HoD) robotic roof line there extends the floor truss pre-plating methodology found at their Atlanta... Read More December 2022 Issue #14281 Page 144
Reap the Rewards and Labor Savings From Wall Lines Wendy Boyd From the BCMC 2022 event, in which we displayed our Framing Line and several other pieces of machinery, it became apparent that our customers are hunting for ways to save labor and costs – which includes producing wall frames for their markets. We were overwhelmed in the Spida booth with... Read More November 2022 Issue #14280 Page 19
A Weekend Install and a Packers Home Game Edmond Lim, P.Eng. The majority of our machinery installs are requested to be done over a weekend, usually starting on Friday. A weekend install requires key personnel to give up their weekend in order to minimize production interruption. The weekend of September 30, 2022 in Green Bay, WI was a particularly... Read More November 2022 Issue #14280 Page 52
How Important is Optimization Rob Bellian Today, linear saw technology provides unmatched efficiency with profound differences to productivity, service, and reliability. An automated linear saw can also reduce the lumber cut waste by batching and combining different cuts of various pieces known as lumber optimization. So what is the one... Read More November 2022 Issue #14280 Page 60
The Last Word: The Last Word on Pre-Plating Joe Kannapell, PE Just as Trussmatic brought back hydraulic plate pressing, House of Design has resurrected pre-plating. Both practices proved themselves in the early days of our industry, but both required disciplined shop floor management, and each had limitations. [For all images, See PDF or View in Full... Read More November 2022 Issue #14280 Page 132