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SBCA’s Truss Technician Training (TTT), along with many other industry-specific training programs, are moving to a new and improved online learning management system (LMS).
A career in component manufacturing offers a “combination of tech and building something with your hands,” says Steve Szymanski of Drexel Truss Systems in Little Chute, Wisconsin.
- The Building Designer providing accurate wall or beam/header information in the Construction Documents is essential in order for the Truss Designer to arrive at the correct bearing width.
- There are two key bearing related considerations—bearing capacity of the truss and bearing capacity of what the truss is sitting on; often, the bearing capacity of this material is an unknown and an assumption must be made.
- The options for dealing with insufficient bearing need to be considered and specifically dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
Apparently, the secret to surviving 50 years in the truss business is to begin by selling lumber, and then working your way into it. Heart Truss & Engineering in Lansing, MI, and Littfin Lumber (Truss) Company in Winsted, MN, are both celebrating half a century of success this year, and they share some common characteristics: one, they both hail from Midwestern states; two, their founders all started by selling lumber and building materials; and three, they all resisted the urge to expand beyond their means.
- The 2012 IRC does not provide sufficient details on how to connect wood trusses to braced wall panels.
- SBCA has developed a couple of details and will continue to develop standard details that provide code-compliant connections between roof/floor trusses and braced wall panels.
- Component manufacturers can provide framers with specialty or standardized blocking panel products to reduce the time needed to install the blocking between trusses for these connections.
- Before a new truss designer designs their first truss, it’s a good idea to have technicians work as a helper on a truss production team.
- Understand the personal characteristics, education and knowledge of your plant personnel because often talent is there that is unexplored and unrealized.
- Training a new designer is an ongoing process that takes time. When you have good designers trained, you will want to do everything you can to keep them employed with you.
Jess Lohse (Rocky Mountain Truss) returns again this month to provide a component manufacturer's perspective on the contents of the new March issue. We hope you enjoy it as much as he seemed to!
When Goldilocks went to the bear’s house, it took her a while to find something that fit her just right. Fortunately, whether you’re a large manufacturer, a small one, or somewhere in between, a formal in-plant QC program is always a perfect fit. In this second article of our series looking at QC, we reached out to component manufacturers of all sizes and asked them about their experiences using the In-Plant WTCA QC program and TPI’s third-party inspection services.
In case you ever needed a picture to define the importance of diagonal bracing in the context of lateral restraint (i.e., top chord purlins as well), these photos of long span trusses say it all.
“We need to take every opportunity to sell more trusses!” That was the sentiment of many of the component manufacturers (CMs) sitting around the table at the most recent SBCA Marketing Committee meeting in Tampa, Florida.
- Current and past industry leaders, with the support of SBCA, have invested thousands of hours developing standards, warning documentation, training programs and other tools to help train industry employees.
- As a salesman or general manager, knowing what to look for on contractual documents is critical even with long-time customers.
- ANSI/TPI 1 Chapter 2 can provide insight into market expectations, scopes of work, responsibilities and the value of your work.
- 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.
American Truss in Houston, Texas is roughly 888 miles from Plum Building Systems in Osceola, Iowa. Under normal circumstances, it’s hard to imagine these two companies would have much reason to collaborate.
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.
When looking at opportunities to increase structural component production capacity through equipment automation, one of the primary examples many point to is the automotive industry. Component manufacturers (CMs) and lumber producers had a chance to tour one of the nation’s most advanced vehicle manufacturing facilities run by Nissan in Smyrna, Tennessee, as part of the 2019 MSR Workshop in April. Plant tours like these give everyone a fresh perspective on production issues.
- According to an SBC One Minute Poll, CMs name finding and retaining good employees as one of their top challenges as business picks up.
- Good workers are all around us and a lot of them are still looking for a job that is worthy of their devotion and work ethic.
- Implementing recruiting strategies in and around your community can produce some of the best results with great, long-term employees.
Six bedrooms, seven full bathrooms and three half baths. A three-car garage, elevator, theater, exercise room, billiards room, library and six fireplaces. Is this a description of a quaint bed and breakfast? No, it’s a residence, a mansion in fact, in need of a roof. Initial plans for this 18,203 sq ft mansion called for a stick-built roof, but the team at Riverside Roof Truss in Danville, VA, proved the benefits of component construction both conceptually on paper and in the field.
- A good place to start a training program is by covering basic truss industry terminology, along with your company’s terminology and approach to serving customers’ technical needs.
- Example math and complete truss design problems using sample plans are a good way to coach new designers and bring them up to speed with your business practices.
- Each new hire and, in general, all staff needs to know who is responsible for client communication at each stage of a project.
When Jim’s Apple Barn, the largest candy store in Minnesota, wanted to expand by way of adding a confection-filled planetarium to the end of a blazing yellow barn already bursting with sweets, it had a difficult time finding a truss company willing to take on the project. “We were the only ones that said yes,” recalled Trevor Ebinger, a member of the Manion Lumber & Truss sales staff. “It was quite an undertaking.”
On October 7, 2013, the Truss Manufacturers of Texas (TMAT) hosted a golf tournament at the Quarry Golf Club in San Antonio to raise money for Operation Finally Home and BCMC Build, who constructed a home for Pfc. Cody Nusbaum. This charity event raised $10,000 for the project.
- Component manufacturers have to be proactive locally in pursuing those outside the industry, including building officials, members of the fire service, specifiers, framers and lawmakers.
- It’s not hard to put a value on having eyes and ears like theirs in the market, when they are willing to look out for your business while they’re doing their jobs.
- The more smoothly the installation of CM products goes, the less issues we have to confront in the field and the less we have to overcome challenging building code provisions, the more builders will want to buy and install our products.
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.
During a recent SBCA Webinar, my friend Larry Dix (Apex Truss) and I were sharing examples of times when component manufacturers (CMs) have shared experiences during SBCA meetings that had an immediate impact on how almost everyone in the room did business.
- President Steve Stroder looks back on the pace of change and some of the industry's top issues.
- SBCA took the tough stands that strong leadership requires to serve the best interests of all CMs when addressing the Southern Pine design value issue, which resulted in SBCA hosting the first Lumber Summit and the formation of the Lumber in Components Council.
- A revamped BCMC may very well turn out to be one of the best shows we have had in some time.
- Scott Ward takes on the leadership of SBCA and is the second father-son combination to serve WTCA/SBCA (Bob Ward President 1991, Scott 2013). The first pair was Don (1992 and 1993) and Ben (2009) Hershey.
- The entrepreneurs who started this industry faced a big challenge getting trusses accepted in the market; we should be glad they didn’t give up.
- Even today, there is resistance in the construction industry to innovation.
- SBC and SBCRI foster innovation by thinking through how a building reacts to loads and then employing engineering fundamentals and common sense.
- The truss industry’s innovative products and software form the link between new science-based discoveries and their application.
- The mission of any professional engineering endeavor is to deploy innovative materials, designs or methods of construction that meet or exceed all regulations, protect the consumer and preserve free and unfettered competition as the rule of trade.