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The first common theme among those CMs who make an effort to engage with students on a regular basis is a clear recognition that connecting with the next generation is important to solving current workforce development issues in this industry. Simply put, “it’s the right thing to do,” says David Mitchell at Engineered Building Design, L.C. in Washington, Iowa.
At the Open Quarterly Meeting (OQM) held February 26-28 in San Diego, the SBCA Marketing Committee embarked on an ambitious new effort to map the entire construction industry process through a series of flow charts. These flow charts will track the movement of information, labor, and products through the various supply chain stakeholders.
Increasingly, today’s consumers and prospective employees are starting with the internet to learn about a company. What they find on the web generally leaves a significant first impression. Given this, there is a multitude of valuable reasons to have an attractive web presence.
If you’re only tracking lagging indicators, like OSHA recordables and lost days, you’re missing out on a big opportunity to prevent future incidents and improve the safety culture in your plant. Leading indicators, on the other hand, present you and your team with an opportunity to track improvement and promote proactive behavior.
One of the most valuable reasons to attend SBCA meetings are the unexpected things you learn. At the most recent Board meeting in San Diego, it was mentioned during the IT Committee report that they were discussing ways to educate component manufacturers (CMs) on the risks and impacts of ransomware attacks.
How often do you contemplate your scope of work (SOW), as it’s formally defined in ANSI/TPI 1 Chapter 2? That standard was originally published in 1995 and has essentially become law with its adoption into the International Residential and International Building Codes.
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Federal and state agency resources you can use to enhance business development and strengthen your workforce.
Gear up for growth! Use the job descriptions listed to post open full-time, part-time or internship positions under Manage Career Opportunities.
This new webinar series was designed to provide suppliers to the structural building components industry with a platform to give a 30-minute webinar on a topic you think will be most beneficial to CMs as they navigate current industry challenges and opportunities. These are not intended to be a sales pitch for your products or services but rather should focus on new/emerging technologies or marketplace trends.
This final session in our series on lean manufacturing will delve into how to apply concepts as building blocks to create learning-based organizations that drive change in both culture and performance.
Annandale Millwork & Allied Systems ventured into the components industry differently from most manufacturers as our original business centered on doors and millwork. We diversified into wall panels in the early 1980s and eventually into roof trusses. From the beginning, we’ve always looked to use innovative processes to solve common construction problems.
If you’re looking for ways to improve your in-plant safety program in 2019, many of these are great places to start.
Advantage Truss Company in Hollister, California, had a record year in 2018. They supply exclusively to custom home builders in their market and bid over 1,000 homes last year for the first time in their company’s history (they completed 625 homes). As part of their outreach to the surrounding community, they participate in a local “Lights on Christmas Parade.” Their 2018 entry got a lot of attention.
General Manager • Engineered Truss Systems Inc. • Garden City, Kansas
$270 million project required 9,250 floor trusses, 1,580 roof trusses, and zero call backs
SBCA is a CM’s best source for understanding the impacts of rulemaking
As hiring remote truss designers becomes increasingly common for the component manufacturing industry, ensuring those same designers don’t feel like they’re alone on an island (even if they actually are) needs to be an important factor in your plan. Finding strategies to help all of your employees feel valued and included isn’t a new concept, but shifting the approach for your remote team members can go a long way to establish a solid foundation in your design department.
The Baltimore Carpentry Task Force brings students together to explore construction careers
Past interns are a great fit to attract students. Recently Big C Lumber held a plant tour for 39 students from eight different schools that are in the Michigan Construction Trades course offered through the St. Joseph County Board. After the tour there were at least ten students that showed interest in working at Big C Lumber. That’s a quarter of the students in the tour!
You may have noticed the emergence of a new phrase to describe the use of components in certain parts of the country. A method referred to as “offsite framing” is catching on in California, Florida, and other areas of high volume housing production. New techniques always produce mixed emotions of fear, uncertainty, opportunity, excitement, and more.
One of the primary missions of SBCA is to help component manufacturers (CMs) gain greater market share. Traditionally, those efforts have been aimed at turning roof rafters into roof trusses, and that focus has paid significant dividends.
The primary mission of SBC Magazine is to connect with component manufacturers (CMs) from across the country and share their best practices and lessons learned. Of course, the biggest challenge in that effort is identifying the timely struggles of one group of CMs and then finding the CM who has developed a best practice to solve it.
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Take a look at how Villaume Industries has used and is using the Lean tools to improve business performance.
Learn about the tools and concepts of Lean Manufacturing and Lean Business Processes to support your continuous improvement efforts.
Need a quick update on the latest and greatest from your trade association? Join Molly Butz for an overview of SBCA's newest and most valuable programs and resources and how you can put them to use in your organization now.
This webinar is the fifth in a series that will discuss special design situations involving “leg down” trusses, horizontal deflection and scissors trusses, etc. Visit the webinar archives to view parts 1-4 of this series (see July 17, 2018, August 14, 2018, October 9, 2018 & February 5, 2019).