Automation Worth Considering for the Building Industry Todd Drummond Automation within the building industry has been ongoing for decades but at a slower pace than other industries. So, what do we mean by automation? Let’s focus on two types: automation for building estimation and automation for roof truss manufacturing. Both will be discussed at the... Read More October 2024 Issue #16303 Page 26
Fixed Rate Drops Below Prime…Just in Time for BCMC! Carl Villella On September 18th, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percent, the first cut in four years. It was a welcome development, and one that should have a positive outcome for the economy. Lower interest rates stimulate economic growth, and make lending of all types less... Read More October 2024 Issue #16303 Page 67
Optimize Offsite Production by Optimizing Lumber Costs Valerie Hansen Lumber is mission-critical to every component manufacturer (CM). On average, it represents two-thirds of your cost-of-goods (CoG), roughly half of the value of your product (Revenue – Pretax Profit). So, what are the market dynamics that surround the purchase of lumber? And how can your... Read More October 2024 Issue #16303 Page 73
Why Are So Many Companies Unknowingly Losing Millions? Todd Drummond Millions of dollars are being lost by many companies that don’t recognize they have a problem — Does your LBM company have more than $50 million combined sales? Quantified as a ratio of sales, according to Six Sigma case studies, the cost of poor quality, defined as waste,... Read More September 2024 Issue #16302 Page 26
Equipment Finance Companies to the Rescue Carl Villella Many companies took advantage of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) in 2021 by bidding on projects to rebuild the nation’s roads, bridges, ports, and broadband networks. But the economic climate of 2021 when the bids were placed was much different than the... Read More September 2024 Issue #16302 Page 65
Retaining Profits Amid Margin Compression Todd Drummond What was widely expected has finally happened. Years of very profitable high sales led to vast increases in capacity to meet that demand, but now we have declining sales volume—the classic too much supply versus not enough demand to maintain margins. Some like to call this margin... Read More August 2024 Issue #16301 Page 24
Playing the Interest Rate Game Carl Villella At the time this article was being written, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the inflation rate for June fell to 3%. Given the stubborn nature of inflation over the past year, the 3% figure was a welcome surprise. Economists and the business community in general already began... Read More August 2024 Issue #16301 Page 53
Economy Still Signaling Growth at Mid-Year But Not Among All Sectors Lesko Financial Services Team The U.S. economy at mid-year continued to show signs of continued resilience and growth—even if such strength remains uneven throughout all sectors. The labor market consistently added jobs in the second quarter but has not kept up with expectations and, more recently, showed signs of... Read More August 2024 Issue #16301 Page 62
Obtaining Financing is Crucial to Maintaining Growth Carl Villella Credit has been tightening in our industry over the past year, making it challenging to obtain financing for new or used equipment. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in March of 2023, followed by the failure of First Republic Bank in May, caused a seismic shift in our... Read More July 2024 Issue #16300 Page 55
Design Connections: Estimating and the Cost of Quotes Geordie Secord One constant thorn in the side of truss fabricators is the cost of preparing quotes, often multiple times for the same job through the life of a project. I find that this is especially true for custom homes, as they often go through numerous revisions for aesthetic, budget, zoning, and other... Read More July 2024 Issue #16300 Page 90