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As we start this new year, I want you to consider how much a good idea is worth to you. How much would you pay to purchase a solution that immediately increases your production capacity by five percent or removes a troubling barrier in your market and opens up additional sales opportunities?
SBC Magazine aims not only to serve as the voice of the structural framing and building envelope industry, it strives to be the main conduit for the information component manufacturers (CMs) find most valuable.
Prioritizing safety is a continual process and everyone needs to be involved. Its success is dependent on motivating people. I like to think about safety like a good marketing campaign.
When you first bring a new hire into your plant, there‘s a lot going on that can easily distract someone unfamiliar with component manufacturing. It can be a challenge to keep a new person focused. That said, it’s critical they pay close attention to all of the potential safety hazards, from handling sharp-edged connector plates to learning how to properly swing a hammer.
It’s been a really hot summer and members of the SBCA Safety Committee are always looking for new and different ways to ensure their employees are safe at work, especially when the temperature climbs.
Jared Dix wears a lot of hats at Apex Truss, just one of which is Safety Coordinator. One of the things he’s been focused on lately is getting the production employees to be consistent about wearing their personal protective equipment (PPE), specifically their safety glasses.
John Howlin, Truss Plant Manager at BuilderUp, is gearing up for winter in Maryland. Like many component manufacturing operations, John’s production and yard workers are exposed to the elements so they take cold weather safety seriously.
There were a lot of opportunities beyond the show floor and educational sessions to build relationships, have a bit of fun, and make some lasting memories.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In the SBCA booth at BCMC 2018, SBCA staff member Joe Schauer displayed how the SBCA Quality Control (QC) Committee’s initiative is a giant step forward in the area of component manufacturing QC.
“The more you can do for a framer to help them get the job done faster and make more money, the more they will want to work specifically with you,” says Sean Kelly, general manager of Automated Products in Marshfield, Wisconsin.
Quality control (QC) is often thought of as an effort to catch mistakes made by production. However, many times problems and solutions extend beyond just the manufacturing process.
When it comes to assuring your customers that you have a high-quality product, one doesn’t have to look farther than a set of design standards.
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.
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.
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.
“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?
Structural building components are not a commodity and should not be sold like one.
Making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is simple, right? Totally.
Looking out over the next three years of housing starts, John Burns Real Estate Consulting (JBREC) is predicting a slight decline in housing starts from the recent 1.25 million average, with a rebound in starts post 2021.
There was quite a buzz on the BCMC show floor this year concerning production automation.
If you attended BCMC in Milwaukee this year you know you were part of something special. From the buzz on the show floor to the wide assortment of educational sessions to the many fun activities that went on throughout the week, there was an opportunity for every person to learn something new and forge a new relationship.
Since I’ve become involved in SBCA, I have found one of the most valuable aspects to be all of the opportunities to learn from fellow component manufacturers and suppliers.
At the SBCA Open Quarterly Meeting (OQM) in August, component manufacturer and supplier members broke into seven teams and took part in a race-to-the-finish scavenger hunt.
Builders Warehouse Manufacturing • Aurora, Colorado
November is the best month to start building relationships with new lawmakers