Business Logistics

CM Perspective: Get a Fresh Perspective!

Prior to 2013, I would keep my head down and diligently work all the way through the month of October. It’s typically a very busy month for us in South Carolina. For the last five years, however, I have left the island that is my manufacturing facility and traveled to BCMC.

Parting Shots: If I Had a Hammer...

Being a “one-hit wonder” in the music industry is not necessarily something to aspire to, but in the SBCA booth at BCMC this year, several CMs and suppliers strove to earn that very title. 

Faces of the Industry: Tony Acampa

Shelter Systems Limited  •  Westminster, MD

2018 Award Winners

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.

Stop Owning Your Trusses!

It is reasonable for component manufacturers (CMs) to expect to get paid for the hard work they do and the quality structural components they produce.

Providing a Glimpse of Industry Career Paths

Component manufacturers had a unique opportunity to invite a small group of students and their instructors to an afternoon on the BCMC show floor this year. 

Does It Matter Where Your Designer Sits?

If you’ve been on the fence about hiring remote truss designers because you’re not ready to spend $30,000 on a new server, hire two additional IT people and lock down your entire network, take a deep breath, and keep reading. It doesn’t need to be that extreme. 

Talking Helps Relieve Work’s Stress Points

Designers are under tight deadlines; they are constantly being pulled from one project to another, and are routinely being asked to make changes to a project. All of this can create an environment that burns them out and pushes them out the door. 

Trouble with Retention? Assume It’s Your Fault

“It’s easy to fire people,” says Carl Allison, component division manager for 84 Lumber, and even easier to write off someone leaving “because he didn’t fit in or it just didn’t work out.” Yet, in a challenging labor market, an industry where entry-level pay is low, and turnover is traditionally high, easy comes at what cost?

Don’t Employ a Team of Order Takers

Structural building components are not a commodity and should not be sold like one.