Seeing the Need for Quality Assurance AND Training

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Issue #10222 - January 2018 | Page #36
By Glenn Traylor

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 its second press. The sketch illustrates an end view of the floor truss in the machine.

If you see a poorly manufactured product, you are correct . . . but just marginally. What you should see are major failures in the plant’s quality assurance program and across the entire organization. This might seem a little hard on the truss builders, but a careful analysis of this truss plant’s operation needs to be conducted. 

Having this type of product in your assembly process indicates numerous failures or gaps that need to be identified and corrected. What are these problems?

  1. Obviously, the truss builder at this station needs to understand that wane impacts quality. When a truss is in the process of being built and the operator doesn’t understand the impact of this example, there is very clear evidence the builder has absolutely no comprehension of this fundamental consideration. I think we can all agree—additional training for this builder is in order.
  2. Would the opposite side, the builder on the starting side of the floor truss machine, have any responsibility? There might be some argument, however, clearly these builders need to assess lumber quality, lumber grade, and suitability prior to loading the machine with chords. The start side in this example failed to qualify the lumber they were getting ready to use. An opportunity for additional training at the very least.
  3. How did the lumber get to the floor machine as material was being staged? A lumber stager needed to handle the lumber, placing it on the cart, or maybe the lumber catcher skips a step and directly places the lumber cart brought to the table. In any case, either one or two people had an opportunity to catch this sort of defect prior to it being staged at the table. Small amounts of wane are easy to miss, but it would be reasonable to assume that extensive wane would be seen with a cursory inspection of the lumber by the catcher/loader. Training, with emphasis on what to look for, would be in order.
  4. Does the sawyer hold any responsibility? Absolutely. The sawyer should be culling extreme lumber before it’s cut. If he or she does this, better utilization of materials can take place before the lumber is cut and committed. Definitely more training is required for the sawyer. Often times, linear saws have eliminated the skilled sawyer requirements needed for component saws, but be assured, skill is still a requirement, especially when it comes to qualifying lumber. In this example, additional training is necessary so the sawyer knows their responsibilities.
  5. How about the lumber picker? Absolutely. Their job is not to simply fetch lumber. The picker has the responsibility to “pick” the appropriate lumber for the task at hand. They need enough information to be able to understand how the lumber is going to be used. Simply giving a picker a list of lumber with grade, size, and length, without clear understanding on its subsequent use, is an accident waiting to happen. This could illustrate poor procedures, lack of training, or a combination of both. Obviously more training is in order.
  6. Did we leave out anyone? Maybe. Let’s assume the second side floor truss builder was new or lacking experience. A supervisor should be reviewing and watching the process anytime a new employee is being trained and places in a worker in a new circumstance. Using the same train of thought, this would also apply to the Picker, Catcher, Sawyer, and Staging.

As discussed, this horrible example shown here is not just one person who’s not equipped to do the job. It’s a total breakdown in critical components, training, and understanding from start to finish. Had this problem not been captured during a quality control audit, the probability of this truss being installed in the field was very high. And, by the way, the wane existed to a lesser degree along the entire length of the top chord. Can you say UGLY!

Glenn Traylor

Author: Glenn Traylor

Structural Building Components Industry Consultant

You're reading an article from the January 2018 issue.

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