President's Message: There’s Value to Be Had if You Take It

Over the course of the year I have used this column to highlight the development of SBCA’s multi-year strategic plan. As I outlined in April, the practical way component manufacturers (CMs) are driving the creation of deliverable value to the membership is through five strike forces. I’m pleased to share with you four prime examples of what these strike forces have accomplished.

Strike Force 2 has as one of its goals to provide tools to CMs to aid in making better decisions regarding the raw materials used in this industry’s products. To that end, it has developed a regular podcast called Lumber Connection, featuring lumber industry experts who provide commentary on what they are seeing in the market and their perspectives on market dynamics. Anyone involved in lumber purchasing at your company needs to be listening to this podcast; it is well worth the fifteen-minute investment each week when it comes out in SBC Industry News.

Strike Forces 3 and 4 are working together to develop both a robust set of training curriculum specific to the component manufacturing industry and a new technology to deliver that valuable educational content. Starting with topics like truss technician training, in-plant safety, and lean manufacturing, strike force members are collaborating with staff to create short training sessions that will be uploaded to a new learning management system (LMS) that members can use to offer targeted training and track the progress of their employees.

Strike Force 5 is helping every CM attract a new crop of employees. Starting with a unique survey of production-line workers throughout the industry to identify their needs and suggested improvements, the goal is to identify ways to improve retention and overall job satisfaction. The strike force has also launched a social media campaign called “Be Essential” with the intent to drive traffic to SBCA’s Career Opportunities webpage. The page is designed to help potential job seekers learn more about the industry and see the job openings any CM member can post there for free. If you aren’t posting your job opportunities on this webpage, you should start today. There’s no downside.

There are a lot more projects in the works within all of these strike forces. I’d encourage you to check up on their progress online; updates are posted on a regular basis. I’d like to thank all the dedicated CMs who have given their time and lent their experience to a strike force. We couldn’t deliver this value without you. I hope the rest of you all take the time and reap the benefits of all this good work. Listen to the podcast, post your job openings, and use the new training programs as they become available.