I don’t mind having solicitors from time to time, even though the neighborhood has a sign against it. In fact, when someone tells me they’re doing work on a neighbor’s house that interests me, I’ll have a conversation and get a quote. Why not? It’s not as if...

Component manufacturing is a constant balancing act. People, timelines, communication, production realities, and customer expectations, all at once. Estimators are trying to turn quotes around faster, designers are solving problems that keep getting more complex, and production teams are...

After more than 30 years of recruiting in the structural building components industry, along with my own background in offsite manufacturing, I have learned that hiring someone is only the beginning. Keeping them is where many companies struggle. One of the biggest complaints I hear from...

Last month’s article, “Is Your Tribal Knowledge Retiring or Expired?”, addresses the “Single Point of Failure” — the realization that your plant’s most valuable intellectual property is currently walking out the door every day at 5:00 PM in the head of a...

Designing long-span trusses starts with a clear definition. Establishing what constitutes a long-span truss sets expectations early, helping to drive smarter design, manufacturing, and logistics decisions from the outset. [For all figures, See PDF or View in Full Issue.] Defining Long-Span...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is everywhere we look lately. From health care to education to manufacturing operations, AI leaders claim their applications will improve productivity and streamline business processes in every way imaginable. Some say it will replace jobs, while others...

We all know how fast this industry moves, and how hard it can be to stay ahead. That’s exactly why you need to begin planning to attend BCMC 2026 in Columbus, Ohio, September 14–18. If you’re serious about improving your operation, strengthening your team, and finding better...

Do you understand deflection and deflection differential — and how your truss systems and, more importantly, your clients’ perceptions will be affected? Deflection has been around for an exceptionally long time and always needs to be considered and addressed. To do so, however, we...

When business gets tougher, hidden weaknesses stop being minor frustrations and start becoming profit leaks. Leaders cannot afford recurring quality issues, unclear job status, missed follow-up, or managers spending hours chasing information that should already be visible. Most companies do...

Stepping into the CEO role at Paragon comes at an interesting moment, both for our company and for the building components industry as a whole. Paragon recently turned ten years old. In software, especially software aimed at a domain as technically demanding as structural components, most of...