Search
Chris Cozart of Builders FirstSource, John Holland of Clearspan Components, Greg Dahlstrom of Villaume Industries and Jason Hikel of Shelter Systems—all members of SBCA’s IT committee—used their BCMC presentation to cover several aspects of managing your company’s technology needs: change management, effective documentation, cybersecurity and industrial hardware.
Dan Morris—a field service engineer at Apex Technology—and Kelly LaBlance—a technical manager with Builders FirstSource—are both convinced that developing and maintaining a design QC process has helped their companies. Their expertise in analyzing designs and finding creative solutions to solve or even prevent problems was on display as they guided BCMC attendees through common design mistakes and the issues they cause in the field.
Using components to solve old challenges in new ways means time and cost savings for builders and framers—and an expanding business base for component manufacturers.
This issue is full of some of the most valuable nuggets of advice presenters and attendees discussed at BCMC.
You have a lot more to offer the component manufacturing industry than you think. Beyond the skills and experience that allow you to do your job well, you have knowledge and a unique perspective from which other component manufacturers (CMs) could benefit. The pages of this issue are filled with tips, tricks and lessons learned, shared by speakers and attendees alike during the education sessions at BCMC this past October in Knoxville.
As we wrap up last year and plan for 2017, it’s important to assess what SBCA has done in order to set goals for the future. I recently joined the SBCA officers for a few days of doing just that, meeting the SBCA staff in Madison, Wisconsin. We shared ideas and discussed the challenges we’re facing—it was most enlightening. I want to highlight a few of the issues we discussed with the hope of getting everybody’s perspective as to how we move forward.
TheTrussCo takes its workforce development efforts outside the box—and onto the airwaves.
Ric Thompson, a senior truss designer with Millard Lumber, is used to taking on a challenge. “I don’t do small jobs,” he said. “I only do monsters.” Still, some monsters are more monstrous than others. Ask him about BLUEBARN Theatre, and it’s clear that this project stands out.
Safety is often about statistics, inspections, reporting, paperwork…you get the picture. But Plum Building Systems in Osceola, Iowa has found a fun way to engage employees in the safety program: do-it-yourself safety posters.
Meet Jasper Diederiks, Sales Manager at Heartland Truss.
Eras of Innovation
As the industry heads into 2017 focused on solving workforce issues with greater manufacturing efficiency, it’s instructive to look back at the August 2006 issue of SBC Magazine, which featured an interview with Gene Woloveke, the inventive force behind the Idaco Machine & Equipment Company.
It’s hard to find the right words to describe the International Builders Show (IBS) held this past January at the Orlando convention center. Enormous? Chaotic? Bewildering? Maybe all three. That description sheds some light on why the housing industry is as fragmented as it is.
Sometimes it’s hard to start a conversation. You know what you want to say, you think you know how the person you’re talking to will react, and yet finding the words to get the ball rolling and respond to the questions you know you’ll get is tough.
Metal plate connected wood trusses are sometimes used in applications or environments that require the trusses to be designed and constructed with chemically treated lumber. The two most common types of chemically treated wood used in trusses are preservative treated wood (PTW) and fire retardant treated wood (FRTW).
Last June, Truss Components of Washington started doing something unconventional: holding regular meetings of production, design and office employees. General Manager Chad Johnson and Production Manager William Blankenship reflected on their six-month-old experiment, sharing why and how they brought these groups together and what the meetings have accomplished.
“It’s too broad of a statement to say we post job openings on the internet. The type of position we are seeking determines where the ad is placed,” explained John Holland, of Clearspan Components, Inc. “For example, when seeking technical employees, there are all kinds of stratifications.”
SBCA’s library of technical design and installation best practices has been expanded over the past year to help CMs navigate a wide array of code-related challenges in their markets.