As automation and robotics are increasingly embraced, it makes sense to review examples of successful implementations from the pioneers of past systems. Interestingly, the first successful fully automated component assembly in the U.S. involved wall panels rather than trusses. However, in many ways, panel lines are more complicated than truss lines because they involve more steps. But, because the main component equipment manufacturers were primarily focused on selling equipment that used truss plates, they largely neglected panel equipment, and it fell to two proprietors of relatively small businesses to initiate the implementation of a fully automated panel production line. [For photos, See PDF or View in Full Issue.]
Tommy Wood sensed that the time was ripe for a new generation of panel equipment, and amazingly, in the mid-1990s, he convinced travel-averse Gary Luttrell to go to Finland to see such a system in action. He also had to persuade Gary to spend over one million dollars for a single panel line, when Gary hadn’t spent that much on all his truss lines combined. But Tommy knew that Gary had earned the backing of his well-heeled owner, Fred Glaize. Nevertheless, being the guinea pig for the first such system in the U.S. would be a risky move for normally conservative Gary, especially because he had no ownership in the company he managed, Glaize Components of Winchester, VA.
This would also prove to be a stretch for the footloose Mississippian, as Tommy had to orchestrate the handoff of very sophisticated electronics to mainly wrench mechanics who would have to rely on a 4000 mile long maintenance pipeline to the Makron company in Finland. After all, in the mid-1990s, the term “programmable logic controller (PLC)” was unknown to 99% of the component world, and the insides of this (original) Makron cabinet would intimidate any maintenance tech. In addition, the Makron equipment was totally incompatible with any of Tommy’s existing equipment and significant effort was required to integrate it with his software. Nevertheless, he was undaunted, and he got Glaize’s order early in 1995.
Makron was highly motivated to succeed at Glaize, as they needed U.S. orders to replace those that had dried up from the recently defunct Soviet Union. This installation could be a gateway to a market many times the size of the European market. Fortunately, Makron had a long track record building advanced equipment for component building, including the automatic plate packaging technology still used by MiTek thirty years hence. Likely, they knew that they would have to adapt their systems to a dramatically different product, personnel, and production schedule and were committed to do it. However, they likely underestimated the differences between business on the two continents an ocean apart.
After several months, the equipment began arriving at Glaize, which was just outside the prosperous D.C. region’s housing market, and Tommy Wood began the difficult task of interfacing with Makron’s software. This became particularly challenging when Glaize discovered that the Makron methodology was based on building a finite number of standard panels, which could be recalled from stored files on their system. Of course, Glaize, like their peers, would be building an almost incalculable number of unique panels, delivered on demand to the Makron software, and from there to individual work stations. This would require considerable expertise, and involve use of the cryptic and costly Novell networking software, the only practical source during this early stage of personal computer adoption.
After the bugs were worked out, Gary became a strong advocate for Makron’s Extruder method of assembling walls, as would many component manufacturers in the future. Unlike conventional processes, wall parts were fed by a framer between top and bottom plates as they were automatically indexed forward. From there, the sheathing was manually tacked, and it was conveyed automatically through the stapling bridge and stacking process, eliminating most manual intervention and labor.
After a three-month startup, the Glaize line became operational and Gary became satisfied with the productivity, labor savings, and output quality, according to Scott Garber, who is still working at that plant (now a Builders FirstSource location). Building on their success at Glaize, Makron installed a system at Western Home Center in Cincinnati, which was featured on the BCMC tour in 1998. Shortly after seeing the Makron system at the show, Montgomery Truss & Panel in western Pennsylvania purchased a system, and ordered an additional one a few years later, as did several others.
Thanks to the entrepreneurship of Tommy Wood and Gary Luttrell, America’s first fully automated component production line was successfully deployed. And the fact that they did this 25 years ago should give confidence to those undertaking the process today. Certainly, the entire organization needs to be fully engaged, willing to learn, as Scott Garber did when having never seen a PLC before, and patient during the break-in period. Finally, as we will see next month, they and their suppliers must be willing to work together to reshape processes. Fortunately, many component manufacturers are headed down this path today, gradually raising our industry to the next level.
Next Month:
A Deeper Dive into Automation
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