CMs are still debating lasers vs. auto-jigging, 30 years after their introduction. While both have been continually enhanced, their relative performance has remained consistent. However, lasers gained traction much faster, especially after one of the most productive plants, Ron Bergeron’s Century Truss, was among the first installations. Then, when even smaller CMs, like Norco outside Cincinnati, installed them, we had to observe them firsthand.
We travelled to Lebanon, Ohio, and met Norco’s owners, the Klekamps, whose predecessors had precut and marked lumber for the “Sears (Catalog) Modern Home” 90 years ago. When we walked into the plant, we were surprised to see an older gantry table. We questioned why they would put an expensive laser system on top of it. Mike Klekamp pointed to the 3 small black boxes over the table and told us that the Virtek lasers cost a fraction of what he would spend on a new table, while doubling his truss production. Then the Virtek folks proceeded to show us the marvels of the technology. The accuracy of the projected image is incredible, without any observable moving parts. Installation is incredibly easy and involves negligible site labor, and minimal disruption to production. Maintenance consists of cleaning the projector’s glass aperture and replacing targets on the truss table. Life cycle costs are dwarfed by the costs of any mechanical system on the market.
After our visit in 1995, we arranged to become sole distributor for the Virtek laser systems. However, since auto-jigging was coming of age, we needed to determine how lasers compared.
We found the ideal test site at Builders FirstSource’s inaugural plant. They were among the first to install a Koskovich Jet Set on the same line as we had installed Virtek lasers. As discussed in Part IX, BFS was a new entrant in the truss business who invested heavily to gain a competitive edge. With BFS’s rapid expansion plans, and the strong demand for trusses in the late 1990s, a lot was at stake. Such a test would largely determine the future for the automation of truss setup. It needed to be fair and objective.
Into the rural Virginia BFS facility, two automation competitors, Koskovich and Virtek, assembled to test their mettle. Jerry Koskovich traveled from Minnesota with his mechanic to ensure that the Jet Set was in tip-top condition. Virtek came from Canada to observe the proceedings. And we brought the ideal scorekeeper, Mr. Ed Buck, from South Carolina, armed with his ingenuous Benchmark Testing methodology. Ed had developed this technique as a consultant for Boozer Lumber’s truss plant but had previously earned his industrial engineering expertise outside our industry. He had no connection to any equipment supplier, nor to any truss manufacturing system, and was an impartial arbiter.
Benchmark Testing employed a straightforward approach: timing the setup and fabrication of 14 different truss configurations (see sample details), built one after another in a defined sequence. To isolate setup time, the lumber for each truss was precut, marked, and positioned. The clock was started with a clean table and stopped when the 14th configuration was ejected from the table. The shapes, pitches, and truss details were derived mainly from residential roof systems. And the sequence was determined so that most of the jig stops had to be moved between setups.
The BFS test proceeded smoothly and rapidly, with each build crew determined to better the other, and each equipment supplier hoping to win the competition. The Jet Set crew flagged when they stopped to identify truss details on their computer console. The laser crew had no such holdup, installing jigging stops along the lines projected on the truss tables (see image), and that proved to be the deciding factor. Though the Jet Set was noticeably faster on less complicated trusses, the Virtek laser ensured better quality and faster setup on tough trusses.
This test paved the way for over 8,000 Virtek laser heads to be installed over the following 25 years. But over the ensuing years, both systems have been considerably improved, and they have also benefitted from cutting and material handling system upgrades. Their paths to increased productivity varied considerably, however.
Next Month:
Auto-Jigging Innovations