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Automation Straight Talk: Mechanical Morale Boosters

  • His prophecy was that the kind of automation we were involved in would make a world of difference in a truss plant when it came to employee morale and overall employee performance.
  • When you install a new piece of equipment like an automated saw, your plant will perk up in ways you likely hadn’t anticipated.

WTCA Regional Workshop & Conferences: Risk Management Featuring Nancy Frush

  • Risk management consultant Nancy Frush embraces a concept called holism. 
  • Nancy encourages component manufacturers to be proactive by holding health workshops to encourage healthy living habits. 
  • Nancy teaches that management figures should be leaders who set examples, admit when they are wrong, and are honest and caring about the employees. 
  • Barriers in the workplace are created by placing too much focus on titles.

Adventures In Advocacy: Cash In!

  • Our industry supports immigration reform that emphasizes security while also recognizing manufacturers’ workforce needs. 
  • Immigrant populations play a vital role in helping meet our workforce demand. 
  • There is a lot we can do on the local legislative front. Get involved on the state and local district level by making contacts with your lawmakers.

BCMC 2006: Educational Sessions - Focus on Personnel Development

  • This issue of SBC Magazine features articles about legal and legislative topics. 
  • The Sixth Annual WTCA Legislative Conference took place in Washington, DC on May 10-12. 
  • Some of this issue’s other features include: how to prepare yourself and your company for a buy-out, why you should think twice about selling product through a truss broker and a victory surrounding a building labeling issue.

Builder Banter

  • Without the diagonal brace, the only thing the lateral member(s) ensures is that the webs to which they are attached will be-have as a unit and buckle together in the same direction if and/or when the buckling load is reached. 
  • The single diagonal brace and web reinforcement options satisfy the need for bracing individual trusses and truss members, but not the stability bracing of the entire building system. 
  • BCSI-B3 Web Member Permanent Bra-cing/Web Reinforcement provides indus-try recommendations and methods for restraining web members against buckling.

Knowledge Is Power: Building Bridges - Spanning the Great Divide

  • NAHB expects residential fixed investment (RFI) to contract over the next two years. 
  • Perhaps it is time to diversify: less focus on new residential construction and more focus on remodeling, industrial markets, and non-residential construction. 
  • To do this, consider getting closer to the end user.

Publisher's Message

  • Technicians whose TTT certification has lapsed have less than six months to recertify under a special grace period. 
  • Starting January 1, 2007, the new recertification system will send a reminder email to the student and training manager 45 days prior to the expiration date on the technician’s original certificate. 
  • Technicians can choose from a number of industry-related activities to create their own customized recertification program. 

WTCA Update: Tech Notes Address Critical Code & Design Responsibility Issues

  • WTCA Tech Notes offer a new tool for component manufacturers to educate themselves, as well as the people in the marketplace, on the key issues they face on a daily basis. 
  • The goal is to clarify code and other technical issues and provide marketplace education to further the industry.

Dakota Craft Spends Where It Should, Cuts Costs Wherever It Can

  • Dakota Craft found a solution to mitigate the impact of rising fuel costs: heat its production facilities with wood waste.
  • Cost cutting efforts make it possible to redirect resources toward company growth and exceptional employee benefits.
  • The company invests in well-educated truss technicians because it believes that if you don’t start with a quality design, the product will negatively impact the project all the way to installation.

From the Inside Out: Evaluate Internal Material Flow with Site Plan

  • Material flow is the path and process that material and paperwork travel through your operations in order to produce a finished product.
  • You may find that the new computerized saw can save time cutting pieces, but you aren’t rolling trusses out the door any faster. 
  • Your next challenge is to put them into action by documenting your operation’s material flow.

Outside the Plant: Handling Finished Trusses in the Yard

  • Four areas of concern will help identify the hazards and reduce the risks associated with handling finished trusses: forklift limitations, truss limitations, storage and loading.
  • Use a proper spreader bar to transport long span trusses. 
  • Trusses are not designed to carry significant amounts of lateral load which means that pressure placed on the "face" of a truss can cause damage.

Cutting Edge: Gene Woloveke & Idaco's Many "Firsts"

  • Gene Woloveke started his career at Idaco Machine & Equipment Company in the late 1940s.
  • Early on, the company owned a sawmill machinery manufacturing division as well as a lumber division.
  • In the 1950s, Idaco ventured into the truss business, selling home packages and manufacturing truss equipment for component manufacturers.
  • Gene designed and built the first automated component saw by hand.
  • Idaco was among the first companies to partner with A. Carroll Sanford, inventor of the light gauge steel connector plate.

Automation Straight Talk: Heaven or Hell

  • When you buy an automated machine in today’s market, you are probably getting a stable design that will likely do what the salesperson says it will do.
  • Consider this analogy before purchasing automated equipment: "You can buy a Boeing 747, but you aren’t in the airline business until you have the infrastructure that goes with it."
  • Companies that take the best care of their machines are the ones that are also the most productive and profitable.

Mergers & Acquisitions Part 2: Strategy for the Next Step

  • The purchaser wants everything his way and you want everything your way; outline and know your key issues ahead of time. 
  • Knowing the process and the place you want to end up will help you maintain the proper focus on both running your business and the steps in the transaction. 
  • When you know what the purchaser is looking for (return on investment, growth, level of profitability) you can determine how to position and present your business.

Supplier & Professional Directory for the Structural Building Components Industry

Publisher's Message: Be Flexible, Get Creative, Continue to Prosper

  • The industry’s focus on providing good field education has encouraged many manufacturers to send a jobsite package with every order delivered to a jobsite. 
  • Component manufacturers have provided nearly 400,000 WTCA Jobsite Packages to jobsite installers since the product was created in 2002. 
  • Two articles in this issue discuss the benefits of hosting plant tours, on the heels of a WTCA Board resolution encouraging hands-on education of the market.

Human Faces: Request for Bracing Education Cements Relationship

  • Glaize Components was approached by a regional building officials group to clarify temporary and permanent bracing issues. 
  • Scott Garber prepared for the presentation by reviewing BCSI and related B documents, which they also distributed to the group for reference. 
  • Mike Dellinger, Region III Vice President of the Virginia Building and Code Officials Association commented that the presentation was very helpful.

The Big Picture: Maximize Opportunities in a Slowdown

  • Take the opportunity to explore a few new markets that have looked like they are available to exploit. 
  • Look for closely aligned businesses that would generate increased sales and might be a natural addition to your product mix. 
  • The planning and branding you set in place today will have a significant impact on your business in the future.