As housing demand accelerated in the 1960s, builders increasingly turned to trusses. But, lacking better equipment, truss shops had trouble scaling up to fill their orders. Early shops had little more than radial arm saws to cut members and wood tables to assemble them. They had exhausted every...

In 2013, I launched LimTek Solutions with a clear mission: to promote, market, and sell Enventek’s groundbreaking truss manufacturing technology, first developed in 2007. For over a decade, it’s been full steam ahead and we have cultivated an impressive Feed the Beast! customer base....

Chapter I: The Idea One day a certain builder had an idea for a spec house that would be a sure winner. So, he got together with the best architect in the area and began to describe what he wanted. “Mr. Architect,” he said, “I want the house to have a studio...

Most people assume the hardest problems they deal with are theirs alone. That assumption quietly shapes how work gets done. You fix the issue in front of you, adjust a process, add another spreadsheet, or patch a handoff between design and production, then move on. Rarely do you pause to ask...

In 2025, the building component manufacturing industry navigated a landscape defined by paradox: record-breaking investment in high-tech infrastructure alongside sharp contractions in traditional residential segments. As the industry pivots toward 2026, the focus is shifting from...

Component manufacturing is a dynamic business. Market conditions, building codes, supply-chain pressures, and labor needs are continuously shifting, requiring constant problem-solving and innovation. In this environment, staying informed and connected is essential. SBCA’s Open Quarterly...

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been 70 years in the making since eminent AI pioneer, John McCarthy, coined that term in 1955 to describe “the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior.” Truss software has been 50 years in the making, with scant penetration of AI...

A great American competitive struggle broke out in truss shops around Miami in 1957. The owners of these shops learned that two new plates had hit the market, and both worked without supplementary nailing. The Sanford Grip-Plate that they were using required hundreds of nails to be hammered into...

For Structural Building Component (SBC) manufacturers, 2025 presents a paradox. Demand for housing and commercial structures remains resilient, yet the cost of doing business is climbing. The resurgence of aggressive tariff policies—specifically on steel, aluminum, and Canadian softwood...

Perseverance through tough times is what earns success, as proven again by two men in our industry named Ronnie. They logged a combined eight decades serving builders, surviving two severe recessions, enjoying several good years, and also facing tough transitions when their employers were bought...