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- Everyone’s looking for good people right now, and SBCA’s WFD website connects CMs with job candidates; CMs can help this effort by posting openings and viewing resumés.
- SBCA’s online training programs show new hires how our industry can become a career, and gives them the skills to quickly integrate and be productive at the plant.
- BCMC and BCMC Build are the perfect ways to recharge and help us build an industry community where new ideas, strategies and friendships can converge.
The concrete podium of the mixed-used Mercer building sat out the recession. Now, the redesigned building is one of a handful of developments creating a new high-rent suburb of Las Vegas.
Careful joint design can maintain fire resistance where walls meet roofs and floors.
The below article is an update of the article, "Who's Mold Is It?" published in the January/February 2003 edition of SBC Magazine.
BCMC Sessions Focus on Doing Business Smarter
Mold can be found almost anywhere and can grow on virtually any substance, provided moisture is present. Several lumber associations are knowledgeable on this topic, including the American Forest & Paper Association's (AF&PA’s) American Wood Council (AWC), the Western Wood Products Association (WWPA), the Canadian Wood Council (CWC), and the Southern Pine Council (SPC). Surface molds, which can come from a variety of sources including airborne spores, feed off of the sugars and starches readily available in wood. Thus mold can and will occur naturally on lumber under certain conditions, normally due to the presence of moisture in or on the wood and warm temperatures. Therefore, component manufacturers and lumber dealers must realize that all lumber and wood components are susceptible to mold growth.
- By conducting its own ASTM E119 floor assembly fire testing, SBCA has the data it needs to effectively fight the controversial IRC Section R501.3 code provision and help preserve CMs’ market share.
- SBCA has drafted template best practice language CMs should consider using in their TDDs, customer contracts and submittal documents to counter the efforts of the lumber industry to shift liability onto end users.
- Through Framing the American Dream and WorkForce Development efforts, SBCA is actively engaged in helping CMs successfully navigate today’s labor challenges and grow their businesses.
Learn how one CM has perfected their Just-in-Time delivery approach.
BCMC session evaluations indicated that the BCMC Committee hit a home run in choosing the topics they did. Take a few moments to catch up on what you might have missed at this year's show.
Look at marketing your brand through your online presence
Big C Lumber shared a lot with their guests and learned a lot as hosts. They offer a few tips for CMs looking to hold their own event.
Here’s a quick history lesson. In reviewing public documents surrounding the 2010 Final Action Hearing of the ICC with regard to proposals RB31-9/10 and RB87-9/10, one would gather the following information:
“We wouldn’t be where we are today without all our employees. They’re the lifeblood of what we do.”
- CMs need to develop new strategies for hiring, given the tight labor supply to fill the jobs available in the SBC industry.
- There are a wide the range of jobs and great opportunities for advancement in the SBC industry; spread the word.
- SBCA's WorkForce Development site, wfd.sbcindustry.com, could save CMs a tremendous amount of time and money when hiring new employees.
Last year during SBCA’s Open Quarterly Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, I took the train down to Washington, DC and met with staff members of my U.S. Representative, Bill Flores. After a productive meeting on Capitol Hill, I made sure to leave an invitation behind for the Congressman to tour our production facility in Lott, Texas.
2018 SBCA Hall of Fame Award
Each year, SBCA inducts an individual into its Hall of Fame who has contributed significantly to the advancement of both SBCA and the structural building components industry. This award recognizes their active participation in the growth and success of SBCA initiatives that serve the industry’s best interests.
Every CM is more than that and has the potential to be a lot more with today’s technology
So much has changed in just a few short years for component manufacturers supplying single and multi-family residential construction projects. It’s no surprise that the legal landscape we face while operating our businesses in this volatile market has changed as well. As you refocus to take advantage of opportunities as the housing market recovers, I encourage you to consider these legal trends.
One CM’s decision to reach out to a local community college is a win-win for all involved.
Shelter Systems Limited • Westminster, Maryland
From BCMC 2012 Educational Session: “Changing Codes & Planning Ahead”
Minimizing wear and tear on your technology hardware is a significant step toward avoiding downtime and recovering quickly when problems occur.
- Sometimes the benefit of building a relationship is just the sense of camaraderie, but other times, the value can be much more profound for your business.
- Having a close working relationship with your local building officials can not only help you better navigate code changes and jobsite inspection issues, it can help increase market acceptance of your products.
- Forming relationships with your state lawmakers is an easy process, and given their broad connections throughout your community, they’re good people to get to know.
- Manufacturing rough openings in a plant improves site placement accuracy efficiency dues to consistent framing every time.
- Componentized wall sections also significantly reduce jobsite waste and allow for the use of alternative header approaches and materials.
- Having the ability to deliver components just in time to urban jobsites alleviates the need for hard-to-find storage and staging areas.
- The focus should be on developing a system each company can continuously evolve in order to avoid becoming stagnant as the market improves.
- In order to bring in qualified people, initially, companies need to define, write out and fine-tune a recruitment process.
- You need to develop a pipeline of candidates and not wait for the need to arise.
My grandfather was a general contractor, and my mother is one, too. I was toted around jobsites from a young age, and today the smell of fresh cut lumber and construction dust still brings me back to the good ol’ days.
Given that our industry is in the component design and engineering business, which is closely related to the building design business, accurate and reliable engineering is central to every CM’s future success.