The dream of having a single person model an entire structure was admirable, but developing the software to do that turned into a decade-long struggle. Five years ago, I chronicled the development saga in my series on Fifty Years of Truss Design, Parts XI – XV. As the story told, the...

The creation of wall panel software is like the creation of all software – experienced insiders do it best. That was true with Gang-Nail’s AutoPan in the 1970s, which Joe Cotton developed while building wall panels for his homebuilding business. It was also the case with Ted...

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...

After years in which dealers struggled from crisis to crisis, a slew of public reports and economic indicators suggest we can expect many more months of muddling along. Our surfing metaphor of two years ago has given way to the paddleboard, where the only way to speed up is to paddle...

If you are a manufacturer who desires high efficiency with high-quality products and services for your customers, then you know you need good employees to deliver them. Many claim that employees are the most important part of their business. So, it should not be a shock that poor productivity...

You have to go back to the Great Recession 15 years ago to find as many LBM dealers reporting sales declines as we had in 2023. But the reasons are far different, and so are the consequences. Three-quarters of the companies constituting the 2024 Construction Supply 150 reported revenue drops...

In the busy world of prefabricated components, there are three conflicting metrics that owners and managers look at to determine operational performance – board feet of lumber, sales dollars, and margin dollars. I’ll start with what I believe is likely the most common but also the...

Too many get caught up in believing that any additional pay to employees is inherently costing the company more and should be avoided at every turn. If you believe this is the case, there is something you are overlooking. What may be lost is that when the total volume (productivity and sales) is...

In the evolving landscape of engineered wood product (EWP) processing, Hundegger is setting new standards with an innovative solution that seamlessly merges software and hardware capabilities. The Hundegger TURBO-Drive II represents more than just a piece of equipment; it is a comprehensive saw...

The construction supply industry saw high lending rates and a relative lack of big transactions result in 22% fewer deals involving 2.6% fewer locations in 2023 vs. 2022. There also were 10% fewer buyers, with several big players barely present. But greenfield openings, while down 5% from 2022,...