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Component Manufacturing dverti$ dverti $ er
Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
Adverti$$er
October 2020 #12255 Page #144
The Last Word... on Roof Truss Wizards Joe Kannapell - P.E. Senior VP, MiTek USA www.mitek-us.com
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our roof truss innovators have changed our industry, from its beginning to the present day. Their names may be largely unknown now, but their work lives on and is worth assessing.
The most notable is A. Carroll Sanford, whose machines are still cranking out trusses (see my March 2020 article). Mr. Sanford was a South Florida architect who created the Sanford Gantry and Finish Roller, and literally gave birth to our industry. Although those machines have been vastly improved, they still dominate roof truss production. Ironically, though he possessed great patent protection, Mr. Sanford exited our business in the 1970s, making way for Bill McAlpine’s new company. He has long since passed away, but his legacy endures. When a Sanford Gantry landed at Imperial Components, the union workers on the day shift rejected it. But it was quickly embraced by an enterprising young man on the night shift. When he produced a record number of trusses, the owner, Dave Chambers, told him, “if you can do that consistently, I’ll make you a rich man.” That man was Don Hershey and he took Dave’s challenge to heart, becoming a production icon. In the late 1970s, Don engaged a Chicago industrial engineer to develop labor metrics, and, in the 1980s, was the first to automate shop floor data collection. That engineer, John Houlihan, went on to boost production at dozens of truss plants across the country, and his methods remain effective today. Don went on to own the business, and became President of SBCA in 1992–93 and the 1995 Hall of Fame award winner.
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