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On the Scene with Schuck Component Systems, Inc.

  • Plant workers at Schuck Component Systems play an incentive game called Safety Bingo. 
  • The safety pot starts at $100, and an additional $100 is added for each accident-free workday. 
  • The first person to get BINGO wins the entire pot. 
  • Safety Bingo has helped to drop Schuck’s reportable injury rate by one-third.

Parting Shots

Fire Safety in a Component Manufacturing Facility: Part 2

  • Take preventative measures to safeguard your employees and protect your property from fire, like installing fire-resistant materials. 
  • A good fire alarm system is crucial for timely evacuation and accelerating firefighter response time. 
  • Good housekeeping practices, clearly marked exits and periodic fire drills will ensure an orderly evacuation.

How to Empower Your Team

  • Empower your team by establishing good communication. 
  • Consider forming a senior management team to set goals, implement initiatives and delegate tasks. 
  • Establishing a safety committee is a great way to begin the path toward empowering a team. 
  • Retain good employees by offering benefits, especially health insurance.

Parting Shots

Fire Safety in a Component Manufacturing Facility: Part 1

  • Fire safety can be broken down into the main topics of causes and prevention. 
  • Truss plants often contain one or more ignition sources. 
  • Keep spark resistant jackets handy to prevent incidents where flammable chemicals and welding sparks may exist.

On Guard! A Closer Look at Safeguarding Your Manufacturing Equipment

  • OSHA machine guarding standards are meant to prevent the 18,000 injuries U.S. workers suffer while operating machinery. 
  • Six machine guarding requirements are defined by OSHA. 
  • Scott Arquilla’s story demonstrates that OSHA may make an exception if it is determined that a certain guard presents a hazard.

Basic Spanish - A Little Goes a Long Way

  • It is common for close to 80 percent of a plant’s workforce to be Spanish-speaking in our industry. 
  • You don’t have to be bilingual to communicate effectively with your employees. 
  • Knowing a few key terms and phrases will help you keep your workers safe.

"Move That Bus!" A CM's Guide to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

  • Structural building components are essential for a show like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. 
  • With such a tight schedule, structural building components are the single most critical material in helping reach the show’s deadlines. 
  • The most important thing you can do throughout all four stages of production is to be flexible. 
  • Be onsite for the framing the whole day to help with any questions or conflicts should they arise.

Mergers & Acquisitions Part 4: Closing the Deal

  • In the building components industry, buyers’ key areas of focus are inventory, defective product claims, employees, and compliance with laws applicable to employees, environmental compliance and intellectual property. 
  • Expect the buyer’s first draft of the purchase agreement to be very buyer oriented. 
  • When advising the seller, full and early disclosure is encouraged. 
  • Heavy focus and spending too much time on the indemnification can send the wrong signal to the buyer.

Economic Environment: Immigration, Labor Shortages & U.S. Construction Markets

  • A building boom, steady influx of new building materials, and a shortage of skilled workers to properly install them are factors that have collided. 
  • Between 1955 and 2005, manufacturing, construction and mining jobs fell 25 percent. 
  • Nearly one in five construction workers were born outside the U.S. and it’s estimated that immigrants make up over 25 percent of the construction workforce in CA, NV, TX, DC, AZ, NY, FL and NJ. 
  • The U.S.

Time Warp: What It Takes to Make a New Association

  • WTCA’s first meeting minutes have been uncovered and offer a glimpse back in time to the beginnings of the association.
  • Sid Ketchum of PDJ Components recalls the separation of WTCA and TPI being a big and risky move, but that people were excited for the change.
  • WTCA’s membership has stood out since the beginning as people who are doing it for the greater good.
  • Potential members joined WTCA because they observed how it was for the benefit of the whole industry, not just individuals.

Katrina Confronted: Seeing for Themselves

  • The immensity of the devastation from Hurricane Katrina is something you have to witness first-hand to understand its scope and the complexity. 
  • Post-Katrina New Orleans is not going to be a quick fix; the damage to the city and its infrastructure is too dramatic to be repaired in even a few years. 
  • Many Gulf Coast residents were waiting for the release of updated flood advisories to begin rebuilding or repairing their homes. 
  • The Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005 is federal legislation that was passed in order to encourage economic development in

Working For Your Workers: Immigration - Bordering on Insanity

  • Relationships with high schools are great because they can bring in new blood into a company. 
  • Bruce Bain of Richco Structures gives presentations at the local technical college that he graduated from. 
  • Keith Azlin has been working with WTCA-Arizona to set up an internship program between the two ITT Technical Institutes and component manufacturers.

WTCA - Northeast Chapter Unites over Building Label Legislation in Maine

  • WTCA-NE President John Goodrich and other chapter members found volunteers to attend a hearing where legislation about building labeling was to be proposed. 
  • WTCA-NE chapter members attended the hearing to making sure that our industry’s voice and policies would be heard in the midst of this legislative process. 
  • The myths surrounding labeling on truss construction can provide the fire service with a false sense of security and has many negative implications on the truss industry. 
  • Local chapter members need to monitor their local issues so

Wall Panels: Your Customers' (and Your Business') Ticket to Added Value

  • Start small—before launching a wall panel line, consider adding subcomponent product lines as a low-cost way to feel out the market demand. 
  • Increase your chances for success by turning framing contractors and builders into wall component advocates. 
  • Value engineering your walls may help you find the competitive advantage needed to create a niche in your market.

Factors that Affect the Capacity of a Toe-Nailed Connection

  • Toe-nailed connections are a common means of attaching wood joists, rafters and trusses to the top of a supporting wood wall or beam. 
  • Many applications go beyond the scope of the Conventional Light-Frame Con-struction provisions of the code. 
  • The resistance provided by a toe-nailed connection is governed by several factors including proper installation, lumber species, length of penetration, and type of nail.

Important Considerations with Conventionally Framed Valleys

  • Some builders may choose to conventionally frame a valley (i.e., over-frame) instead of using valley set truss frames. 
  • Requirements in the IRC and the ANSI/AF&PA WFCM-2001 indicate it is not acceptable to bear the ends of valley rafters on top of roof sheathing without structural framing below. 
  • Valley rafters must be adequately connected at their supports to resist lateral and uplift forces caused by gravity and wind loads.