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Technology & Old-fashioned Design Skills: The Perfect Combination for Success

  • Back in the ‘80s, truss technicians had to input the lengths, bearing locations and any concentrated loads on a truss other than a standard truss.
  • Today’s truss design software helps streamline truss technicians’ work, but fundamental design, engineering and building code concepts are still important.
  • Design technology gives us the capability to take designs to the next level and spec in a wide range of products from wall panels to steel trusses.
  • The time has come to embrace all structural building component materials.

Parting Shots

Chainsaws Are Powerful, Dangerous

  • Chainsaws are powerful; according to Lowe’s, "you won’t find a tool with more power per inch."
  • Chainsaws were designed to cut only wood, so make sure that all other objects are cleared from the area before using them.

Sheathing versus Purlins

  • BCSI-B2 provides temporary bracing guidance for trusses spaced up to 24 inches on-center.
  • BCSI-B10 offers temporary bracing guidance for wide on-center trusses such as those used in post frame buildings.
  • Truss Designers note on Truss Design Drawings that truss top chords must be laterally braced by the roof sheathing to prevent the top chord from buckling.
  • When purlins are specified, check with the Truss Designer to determine the maximum unbraced length of the top chord between purlins to avoid top chord buckling.

Chapters - The Perfect Way to Get to Know (& Work With) Your Competitors

  • WTCA chapters offer an excellent venue to get to know your competition and even work together.
  • Local chapters provide an environment where relationships and friendly rivalries develop.
  • Working together and focusing on making the structural building components industry stronger increases its stature, and everyone reaps the benefits.

Parting Shots

Finding Ways to Keep Employees for the Long Haul

  • Having a reputation for being a good employer can often be your best recruiting tool.
  • Some of our best employees hear about the company from word of mouth.
  • Hiring a new employee may be a quick fix to a staffing problem, but by investing in your current staff, you reap long-term benefits.

Parting Shots

Preventing "Uh Oh" in the Office - Part 1

  • Phone lines, network cables and electrical cords can pose tripping hazards in aisles and walkways.
  • Like nail guns and metal banding in the truss plant, some office related "tools" also pose a safety hazard. 
  • Using good old-fashioned common sense is the best way to be safe in any work environment.

Framing Up the Wall Panel Market

  • The founders of our industry are probably asking, "Where’s my truss industry?"
  • We must continue to sell value in order to keep this industry strong.
  • One of the only possible negatives to selling more engineering and integrated services is if component manufacturers begin to dilute the value of components by not "up-selling" the value provided.

Wall Panels & Sealed Engineering

  • As wall panels gain popularity, questions pertaining to sealed engineering requirements have increased.
  • Can walls built in the shop rely on the prescriptive provisions of the building code?
  • In the future, it is possible that component manufacturers will be responsible for providing sealed design drawings for their wall panel designs.

Parting Shots

Know Your Manufacturing Costs

  • The Western Lumber Grading Rules permit combinations of like-named U.S. and Canadian species groups, which allows mills that have access to logs from the U.S. and Canada to mix them during production.
  • The most common combinations are Douglas Fir-Larch, Hem-Fir and Spruce-Pine-Fir.
  • The applicable design values for a given U.S. and Canadian species group combination that component manufacturers should use in their software are the lower of the two individual country values for each design value category (see Table 2 on page 76).

Recordkeeping - Complying with OSHA's Requirements

  • It’s time to reconcile your OSHA recordkeeping logs.
  • If an injury or illness resulted from an event or "exposure" that happened at work, assume it is work related.
  • There are some exemptions to what is defined as work related, such as an employee using company property for personal tasks outside his/her assigned work hours.
  • A fatality is ALWAYS recordable.

Second Story Wall Girders

  • Generally, wall girders cannot be used in second story framing because it is nearly impossible to brace the compression top chord of a girder when it is placed in a wall.
  • The top chord(s) of girder trusses can experience very high compressive forces, which can cause the chord to buckle out of plane.

Parting Shots

QC - A Lifeline to Continued Success in Our Industry

  • An in-plant quality control program helps you quickly identify issues with a press or how someone is doing their job through the management information that the data provides.
  • The program may take an investment in time and money, but monitoring the benchmarks and charts and catching a problem and solving it in a timely manner is well worth it.
  • Proof of such a program can potentially help lower your insurance premiums.
  • Certain U.S.

Recordkeeping - Proper Training & Employee Training Records

  • Safety training can help your employees develop the skills they need to recognize and understand on-the-job hazards.
  • Training should be developed for new and existing employees alike.
  • Training records can be of great value when evaluating trends in injury and accident rates.