Batch Cutting vs. Cut By Truss Edmond Lim, P.Eng. What weighs more, a pound of muscle or a pound of fat? In truss jargon, the question would be: What produces more trusses, 200 pieces of batch cutting or 200 pieces of cut-by-truss cutting? The answer, of course, is that both cutting methods produce the same number of trusses. So what’s... Read More March 2024 Issue #16296 Page 44
Focusing on Safety with Vekta and Dahlsens Ed Serrano One of the central goals of the frame and truss sector is that everyone goes home safely every day. And while the Razer has been designed from the initial engineering stage with safety at the forefront, some customers, like Dahlsens, require more stringent safety aspects, so we customize... Read More March 2024 Issue #16296 Page 50
Reaping the Benefits of the Spida Wall Line System Wendy Boyd Over 7 years ago, we introduced the first of our new generation Spida Wall Extruders to the market. Today, we have taken a massive step further and it just keeps getting better. Recently demonstrated at BCMC 2023, the Spida Raked Wall Extruder can do it all – and it is only one part of an... Read More February 2024 Issue #16295 Page 17
Accommodating Your Catch-as-Catch-Can Edmond Lim, P.Eng. Catching and stacking lumber can make or break productivity at the truss build tables. In an imaginary world where money is irrelevant, a linear saw in front of each automated truss jig would be ideal, cutting pieces in order from, let’s say, 60 ft finger-joined lumber, and robots grabbing... Read More February 2024 Issue #16295 Page 42
Welcoming a New Year of Partnerships with Spida Wendy Boyd As I sit here thinking about what the New Year will bring for Spida Machinery, I send our warmest gratitude to those customers who became our machinery partners in 2023. I can now bid farewell the challenges of the past 12 months and welcome the promise of a fresh start and new opportunities in... Read More January 2024 Issue #16294 Page 17
Inspiration to Feed The Beast! in 2024 Edmond Lim, P.Eng. As we all plan for a productive and profitable 2024, I would like to celebrate three 2023 Feed The Beast success stories: a multi-million-dollar plant expansion, a complete saw shop makeover, and a plant renovation. All three of these projects implemented some or all of Enventek’s... Read More January 2024 Issue #16294 Page 42
A Year of Building onto the Spida Family Wendy Boyd Christmas has come around so quickly – where has the year gone? Many great things have happened for Spida in 2023, so before we celebrate another Christmas and New Year, let’s reflect on our journey this year. The start of 2023 was all about planning for the year and executing... Read More December 2023 Issue #15293 Page 17
One Size Can Fit All Edmond Lim, P.Eng. 2023 was quite a year for Feeding the Beast of all sizes. That is a testament to the simplicity, utility, and robustness of our Process Organization Technology. The RetroC as a standalone auto-feeding component saw can anchor truss plants of all sizes from a single truss jig to over 10 jigs. A... Read More December 2023 Issue #15293 Page 38
From Kiwis to Gators, Spida is Making Big Moves Wendy Boyd As we get ready to make our move to the new Spida factory in Jacksonville, Florida, a few things come to mind in terms of making the move as easy as possible and what the move means to all of us on the Spida Team. Firstly, we have stock on hand, in Shelbyville, that would be better off... Read More November 2023 Issue #15292 Page 16
A Lumber PickLine Buys Time Edmond Lim, P.Eng. Another BCMC is a wrap and it is clear that pent-up demand remains in the component industry for new automated saws. Longer than one-year machinery lead times are still with us, so what can be done in the meantime to mitigate the long lead times? Take a look at your existing automated saws and... Read More November 2023 Issue #15292 Page 40