Video Showcase: Robots at the truss plant
Builders FirstSource placed an order for eight fully automated robotic truss systems: four roof truss systems and four open-web floor truss systems to be installed in 2023.
The Dallas-based prodealer already operates two robotic systems, which were installed earlier this year. (See video above.) The new systems, from Nampa, Idaho-based House of Design, will be used in new or existing Builders FirstSource facilities.
At a time when labor shortages rank high on lists of LBM-company challenges, Builders FirstSource sees the robotics systems as an innovation that addresses a number of additional challenges, and positions the company to build on its existing innovations.
“We are excited to further our strategic investment in [House of Design’s] technologies,” said Mike Farmer, president of Commercial Operations for Builders FirstSource. “We’re confident the company’s automated systems will help us improve the consistency and quality of our components, while easing our industry’s labor shortage and reducing the strain on our truss assemblers.”
The automated systems utilize robotics for lifting, preplating and assembly, lessening the physical demand on personnel and improving safety in the process. Also, House of Design’s proprietary software can produce complex variable trusses and wall panels without robot retraining or resetting, the company says, making the systems easy-to-use, empowering workforces to do more and manufacturing high-quality trusses.
“Builders FirstSource’s leadership position in the industry is apparent and makes them a strategic customer for House of Design,” said Michael Lindley, House of Design’s VP of sales and marketing. “Their pain points are the same ones being experienced by nearly all manufacturers – big or small – across the country.”
