(Home Page)
Client Testimonials
“...Your expertise in this industry will be greatly beneficial to us as a company as we continue to grow this relationship. We look forward to the future and are excited to have someone with your knowledge working with us
“...This information allowed us to estimate our jobs with a dramatically increased level of accuracy on each project, regardless of its level of complexity. The time standards also gave us the information to measure our production and establish target output for each workstation in our shop.”
“...There are no words to express how thankful we are that we chose to start changing our business with assistance from Todd Drummond. The moment he walked through our doors, he immediately began to gain our trust and open our eyes to the areas upon which we needed to focus our attention.”
— John Hall, Mathew Hall Lumber
— Gordon Tober, Leduc Truss Inc.
— Ryan Lodermeier, Kamloops Truss Ltd.
Brad Emmert
President
Brazil, IN
“We recently had Drummond Consulting do a consultation at our Truss Plant. Todd’s services included plant efficiency, design efficiency, better organization, man minutes per truss type, and more. The value of Todd’s presentation and lean training was very beneficial to each of our team members. Just implementing a few of Todd’s suggestions will more than pay for his services in a short amount of time. The value and benefits of Drummond Consulting will continue our improvement in the market while urging him not to consult with our competitors!”
Shane Soule
President
Bremen, IN
I’ve been reading Todd’s articles for the last few years and have been intrigued by his view of productivity measures, so I decided to hire him to learn more about his philosophy. It was an investment well spent because I not only learned a completely different way to view labor metrics, but I came out of it with a completely different mindset on pricing, scheduling, and staffing. I highly recommend Todd’s services to take your company to the next level. The most valuable information you can get is the information you don’t know you need.
John Angelo
Chief Operating Officer
Delta CO. & Utah
Don’t hire Todd if you don’t want to be challenged.
Hire Todd if you want to have your thoughts challenged.
Don’t hire Todd if you just want confirmation that you are already doing things right.
Hire Todd if you are truly invested in getting better.
Don’t hire Todd if you aren’t willing to make a change.
Hire Todd if you are ready for change.
Don’t hire Todd if you like your comfort zone.
Hire Todd if you want to get pushed out of your comfort zone.
Don’t hire Todd if you are in our market area!
Hire Todd if you are not in our market area 🙂
Chris J. Wilkins
Managing Director
Nashville, TN
We first brought Todd in for a week in the summer of 2019 to assess our operation. We were looking to make investments in upgrades but felt that someone like Todd would know where to spend the money first. After reviewing every inch of the operation, we decided on a game plan. Everything from personnel changing their responsibilities, to estimating, to design, to production – Todd had a way to make it better.
We were turning out good numbers on the top line, but the margins just were not there. Todd showed what we needed to do in order to make things better. Todd gave us a long list of ideas and upgrades that we could do all at once, a piece at a time or not at all. After sitting with him and putting together a plan, we put our cash to work investing in upgrades to the plant and the saws. We rearranged table setups, improved workflow, and after nine months of planning and executing, brought Todd back for a review and give us another evaluation.
He was very impressed with what we had changed in a short amount of time, and we have seen the margins grow significantly. His ideas from years of experience have proven invaluable. Everything we did made our efficiencies better. We did not have the money to do all the suggestions, but we put a plan in place that prioritized what we needed first. As we scale up, we have the roadmap of what to do when we hit our milestones so as to continue growing.
We highly recommend Todd Drummond Consulting to anyone that is in the truss business. Even if you think you have it all figured out, which we knew we did not, he can make things better. Call him, get to spend a week with you it will be the best money you have ever spent.
Dan Claussen 
Pres./Owner
Lampasas, TX
Lampasas Building Components (LBC) manufactures roof and floor trusses. Since its beginnings in 1978, family-owned and managed LBC has had decades of knowledge to draw upon to satisfy our customer’s needs while manufacturing at peak performance. But when you are caught up in the day-to-day business, it is hard to see things differently to get higher performance. We were ready to make some needed equipment purchases to meet today’s challenges and growing demands, but we needed some unbiased advisement before we did that. We met Todd Drummond at a Builder’s Show and decided to see what he had to say.
Todd Drummond spent a week at our facility in Central Texas. He methodically walked us through every part of our business and practices tailoring the information to meet our specific needs. He provided us recommendations on all aspects of our business to improve everything from pricing, sales, and manufacturing.
Over the past year, we have implemented most of Todd’s manufacturing suggestions and have seen remarkable improvements. There are still a couple of recommendations of Todd’s that we would like to implement in the upcoming year.
If anyone thinks Todd will give you only enough information for a few areas, you will be pleasantly surprised by the in-depth details and his knowledge to help you with your company. We are a great company, and Todd definitely helped make us better. We highly recommend his services, which are well worth the investment of your time and money.
John Hinshaw
Director of Truss Manufacturing
Boise, ID
From A to Z, Todd is a wealth of information about component manufacturing. No matter how good you think you are, I would challenge anyone if you didn’t find ways to improve your bottom line with his services. He is honest and direct in his assessment. You may not like all that you hear, but his training and commonsense approach will have you convinced in short order.
An action plan of continuous improvement is a necessity in a highly competitive market, and he will help your group create a process improvement plan that will make a real definite improvement for all departments for an immediate implementation instead of taking months or years. We are excited to implement many of Todd’s training and recommendations.
Todd is well worth the investment many times over.
Vernon Bennett
Chief Operating Officer
Franklin, TN
Here at Huskey’s, we have been a part of the LBM market for over 70 years. The component division is a big part of our services, and like all areas, we are always looking for improvement. So, we enlisted Todd’s services, which have been widely recognized in the industry as an expert for improvement in all areas of the truss and wall panel manufacturing process.
Some of the areas that we saw an immediate improvement with Todd’s help were the time standards for proper truss fabrication labor estimation which is far superior to board footage units. Also, we gained the knowledge of true costing, which is priceless information to have in these ever-competitive markets which we serve. Improvement in plant efficiency and production flow seemed to be Todd’s easiest areas to offer advisement that gave us immediate results that we are very pleased with. Todd and our production manager went a long way in changing our production flow on our panel production side.
The way Todd performs his services and communicates allowed us to enjoy bouncing information and ideas off each other, and it helped strengthen and create teamwork with everyone. If you are looking for someone to offer sound advice for improving the efficiencies, capacity, and profitability, I cannot recommend Todd’s Services enough.
Russ Woodworth
Gastonia Truss GM
Gastonia, NC
We hired Todd Drummond to consult with us this past week (Jan 2019) to evaluate our components business. We knew of him in the past but were warned by a few that he might be arrogant, and a sort of a know it all kind of personality. This negative view of his character couldn’t be further from the truth. We found him to be very knowledgeable, concise, approachable and very easy to converse with on all topics. He listened to our concerns and addressed all of our questions. Given some of the more complex subjects, he took the time to go over the details until we understood. At the end of the week, we found we had literally been given hundreds of ideas and suggestions to take our facilities to the next level. We also discussed our equipment needs, wants, and he helped us sort through each of these.
I highly recommend Todd and his services…..especially if you are outside of my market area!!
Gilles Chouinard
Owner
Eel River Crossing, N. B. Canada
If you want transparency and honesty, combined with plenty of common-sense suggestions and expertise for improving your operation’s bottom line, we highly recommend Todd’s services.
Todd’s training answered many questions we had and validated some of our current practices while shedding light on others.
Thank you, Todd!
John Hall
Owner
St. Cloud, MN
Todd,
We wanted to thank you for working with us continuously. Your expertise in this industry will be greatly beneficial to us as a company as we continue to grow this relationship. We look forward to the future and are excited to have someone with your knowledge working with us.
Thank you,
Joe Tepe
Components Division Manager, Co-Owner
Loveland, Ohio
In recent years, the market for component manufacturing businesses has changed drastically. Our industry has become extremely competitive. The drop in construction has caused manufacturers to reduce prices as far as possible in order to “get the job.” During this time, we are forced to question our estimating techniques. We believe that a critical key to success is the ability to identify our true cost on every job that we estimate. We have to be aware of the point at which the job is no longer profitable.
Todd provided us with time standards which were specific to the equipment that we use. This information allowed us to estimate our jobs with a dramatically increased level of accuracy on each project, regardless of its level of complexity. The time standards also gave us the information to measure our production and establish target output for each workstation in our shop.
Todd also offered suggestions for lean manufacturing practices, marketing, quality control, production, and design incentives. We continue to implement his ideas, which have received positive feedback from our customers. Each has resulted in improvements to our operations.
I recommend Todd’s consultation to any truss manufacturer, even during this difficult market. The expense of the consult was money well spent in improving our profitability.
Harold LaValley
Founder and Owner.
Newport, NH Corporate Office
Todd, You have a high opinion of the value of your services, and you are not bashful about charging. We have been building trusses since 1962. We believe our people are better than average; our equipment is as good as the best, our yard layout is adequate for our business and over all we questioned whether or not, considering what you charge, it would be worth it. Not wanting to be too myopic we decided to spend some money and listen to you. I will make this note short. It was the best investment I ever made for our truss shop. I no longer think you are expensive. You covered so much that we will be forever appreciative.
Brad Emmert
President
Timberland Lumber Company - Brazil IN
We started building roof trusses in 2005 and really didn’t have any idea what we were getting into at the time. I had met you several times and often thought that we should entertain the thought of having you in our plant. It only took us 12 years to pull the trigger! After your recent visit, I now know we should have paid for your service long ago. You gave us so many things to work on, and we still have not got them all implemented, but each one we do implement is making a huge difference in our business.
Thanks again for the help!
Andrew Sage
Owner
Ames, IA
Finding an unbiased source of information is a challenge. Being new to the CM industry, Todd's knowledge and insights are extremely valuable. Everything that I needed to know before we made any big decisions, like the right type of equipment, number of people, building size, critical financial numbers, and margins, Todd was able to help us. His prospectus answered all those questions we were looking for without the bias any of the vendors might have given.
Thanks very much for your help, Todd.
Chris and Elsie Troyer
Owners / Pres.
Longhorn Truss LLC - Lott, TX
When we hired Todd Drummond Consulting to come in and review our operation, we felt like our operation needed to get a better handle on production and true costs. At least, that was the initial intention to be. We have been a successful truss company in central Texas since 2003, but like everyone, we are always looking for ways to improve. Investing in Todd’s services was not something we did on a whim, but we are glad we did.
The Shop employees were skeptical at first, but over the week, they became enthusiastic about the concepts and ideas that he taught everyone. Todd took lean manufacturing and broke it down to the simple concept of “Work smarter, not harder.” His consulting services covered not only manufacturing but costing, sales, and even better employee management practices. Both concepts and practical suggestions were presented that our people were willing to embrace.
Todd helped us take a fresh look at how the different parts of the manufacturing process work, identified some bottlenecks, moved some equipment, and through that were able to streamline the flow of materials through the plant. These changes in material placement and many other practical ideas have had a positive impact on production speed. When he explained the reasons, it became very apparent, and once we did it, it made a difference.
One area that was not to be overlooked that he helped us with is labor estimation and costing using man-minutes instead of board footage. Better bidding and labor estimations have their own rewards, which have benefitted us. However, because we are able to have better means of labor estimations using man-minutes, we were able to implement a production bonus program. Which has had a very positive effect on employee morale and, therefore, on speed, and quality, of production.
It has been a few years since his consultation, but even now, we still occasionally look over the material he provided to make further improvements. If your company is looking for an honest assessment and looking for ideas for improvement, look no further than Mr. Drummond’s services. He actually does just what he says he can to help you, but only if you are willing to take a chance and hire his services.
Thank you, Todd!
Dan West
Owner & Managing Member
Idaho Falls, ID
I have been intimately involved in every facet of the truss business. This gives me a unique ability to understand how different areas of the business should intertwine to get things done. I have been involved in creating and running top performing businesses for decades.
My aphorism: No matter how good you are, there is someone else doing it better! You need to constantly be on the lookout for the better option and adapt to make it your own. One of my goals has been to learn more about “lean manufacturing” and how I could adapt it to my operation. Of course, like all business owners, I have never had the time to do this. Enter Todd Drummond, I have known Todd for years and have watched as he slowly grew his consulting business into a major player in our industry. Todd has a luxury that very few people have. He has not only been in dozens of truss plants, he has had the opportunity to watch, listen and learn in every one of them. This is invaluable in itself and something a business owner would never have the time to do. The other side of the coin is, Todd has extensively studied Lean Manufacturing and been very progressive about understanding how best to implement lean principles in a component operation.
I hired Todd’s services in 2013. His process was all encompassing and included almost every aspect of the business. He did a great job covering every aspect of the process while using lean principles as the foundation. I was pleased with everything. Todd went over best practices and lean principles related to our location. He gave us some great advice and input. One of the most powerful things was the power point presentation Todd left with us. This is invaluable when trying to work with and train your people. When we are ready to upgrade a part of our business, we refer to the TDC presentation to help keep us on track and make sure we are always thinking lean! Todd has watched and done time studies on almost every piece of equipment in our industry. To have that as a resource is worth the price of admission, in and of itself. When it comes to investing in new equipment, Todd’s suggestions have been very astute. His recommendations and suggestions have definitely made a positive impact on our company and our bottom line.
Whether you’re a successful business looking for more, a struggling business that needs some guidance, or a business somewhere in between, I highly recommend Todd Drummond Consulting LLC to help you along the way.
Sincerely,
Dan West
Owner & Managing Member
Snake River Truss & Components LLC
Tom Manning
General Manager
Nampa, Idaho
In 2009, InteFrame was created by the joining of two former truss companies. Together they combined the best parts of their processes and became what is now known as InteFrame. Coupled with many years of experience and the ambition to be more than just your average supplier, InteFrame has become the largest truss supplier in Idaho. We continue to expand and improve upon the strong foundations of our past while always staying focused on the future. Since our conception, year-to-year sales have grown tremendously. With this new growth, our need for capacity has also increased. Our first impulse was to purchase new equipment to fulfill this growing requirement, but after many discussions, our company took the approach of focusing attention on the current manufacturing process.
InteFrame has always been attentive to lean manufacturing practices and continually works daily to put these practices into place. To validate, provide new ideas, and possibly increase the effectiveness of these practices, InteFrame looked to Todd Drummond and his formal experience. His methods for training led our group down a path that touched on every aspect of our business. The consultation not only looked at the manufacturing area but focused attention on our sales, design, and accounting methods. The daily routine was divided, with the mornings being utilized as Todd’s “fact-finding” time of our company’s practices. The afternoons were constructed of training sessions that were serious and methodical, all being guided by Todd’s understanding of the fact-finding session from earlier in the day/week. Todd’s insights and suggestions were based upon his assessments of our company’s practices and performance, as well as being guided by best practices he has observed through the numerous other consultations he has been a part of.
The end result is our company has a much clearer understanding of areas we can improve. Todd’s consultation confirmed some of our own ideas and challenged us with new ones enriching our internal processes and creating better efficiencies. Where Todd challenged us, he provided the why, how, and what to successfully complete and implement the change. Through better management practices, guided by Todd, our company was able to increase capacity in our manufacturing area.
Our team has many decades of experience in the component industry, and we all still gained valuable new ideas and practices from Todd’s consultation. Our investment in his services has made a real difference in our processes and methods of doing business. Most weeks, Todd’s information and comments still populate most of our meetings. His consultation has allowed an increase in profits and is highly worth the investment.
Advanced Wall Systems, LLC
Lakes Truss LLC (D.B.A.)
Scott Zak - Owner/Partner
Perham, MN
My partners DarinTrites, Ben Hosfield and I had the opportunity to purchase AWS, a previously operating wall panel business, in 2013 after a year-long evaluation period. Our background has been mainly real estate and finance. We hired what we thought as an industry expert GM to run the day-to-day operations and jumped into the wall panel business with no looking back. We had the tools, people, working capital and even the sales but it was not working out the way we envisioned. After a few years, we learned that we needed to make drastic changes to make the business work the way we had envisioned it or decide if it was better to close the doors and go back to what we knew best.
First, we decided that wall panels were not enough and that we needed to expand into roof and floor truss manufacturing. However, we had learned from hard knocks that learning from trial and error was too expensive, and relying only on the people within your organization was not enough. Equipment and plate vendors were certainly not providing the need-to-know expert advice we really needed to hear. We needed someone who was willing to tell us when we were making mistakes and to actually challenge us. It was time for expert advice, which is where Todd comes in.
The first thing I can say about his consulting services as it was intense, and it covered far more ground than I ever expected. Lean manufacturing practices, which is what he espouses, cover every aspect of your business, and that is exactly what Todd did for us. He covered every aspect of our business. From admin issues such as communication, employee management, then manufacturing, then design and sales (all aspects of each). It really was a lot of very good information.
Without a doubt, if you plan on buying equipment, building an addition to increase your capacity, or starting from scratch for a new or existing wall and roof truss manufacturing, you have got to get Todd’s unbiased advice. He really does not care which vendor you use, but he does provide you with unbiased advice on what you really can expect from both the equipment and the vendors. What are the best positioning of the equipment and the working area for the material flow that will work best for your particular needs. He also is doing this with an eye on potential future growth so you won’t be caught with unexpected constraints if you are able to expand due to sales growth in the future.
Thanks, Todd!
Taft Ketchum
Owner/GM
Chester, NY
We have been in business for over 30 years and have survived the downturn by doing what we know is best. Now that the building economy has improved, we are once again looking for better ideas to improve our current practices and also investment opportunities for capital expenditures such as equipment. Todd provided us with a much-needed fresh perspective in every area of our company.
What most people fail to understand, and we were no different, was all the other aspects of our business that Todd was able to help us with. Everything from system processes, staffing, wage, and incentive issues were all discussed with viable solutions. His methods of instruction laid out a very clear and methodical process to allow us proper perspective and a viable roadmap to help resolve many of our most pressing issues. Once again, he clearly showed us multiple alternatives on how to get more with what we already have but with less effort.
PDJ Components is not just growing, we are thriving once again. Todd’s advice is helping us do just that and we are very pleased to recommend his services to others.
Keith Kylmala - Owner
Sagina, MN
As an owner of a truss manufacturing operation, I know it can sometimes be difficult to get an honest assessment of how your operation is doing. I am not new to this industry—I have been doing this for 18+ years—yet I thought there was room for improvements in the tight competitive market my company is part of. So I hired Todd to do just that and I was very pleased.
He touched on every area of the business and was always relating it to lean practices. I have sometimes found that lean principles were good in theory but hard to put into practice. Well, Todd was able to do just that by making it very specific for all areas with a common-sense approach. My manufacturing operation is now producing at a higher rate with a lower cost of labor using these principles. He showed us that just because we were keeping busy did not mean we were being as productive as we should have been. All of his suggestions for manufacturing were real eye-openers that helped us keep the big picture in mind. Now, we can produce more with less effort.
Pricing and costing were an important aspect of his services that helped us improve our bottom line. He has a list of many different types of labor estimations that you can simply plug into your truss engineering software to calculate a very reasonable labor time and cost for each truss. This labor time can be used for gauging your shop’s labor time efficiencies as well as scheduling. (I will never use board footage again.) This same labor time estimation is great for establishing the proper margin rate instead of the commonly used cost markup. I have great confidence when I price any of my projects in relation to how it will add to the bottom line.
If you want an honest assessment with plenty of common-sense suggestions for improving your operation’s bottom line, I highly recommend Todd’s services.
Marco Gagnon
Owner
DSL de Saint-Andre, NB
We are a small truss and floor joist manufacturer in Eastern Canada and are always looking for ways to improve. Looking at the future and wanting to grow our business we figure no better way than to have someone with knowledge and experience.
We had Todd come in and within the first hour, he pointed out actions that we knew should be change and he gave us industry knowledge on what to look for in our change. The old term “we always done it this way” was quickly thrown out the door and we worked on improving our overall company.
Todd brought with him years of experience, best practices and views from different manufacturers to help us in our venture to improve and grow. His bank of industry standards are great to measure our own performance against industry, and allow us to aim for better.
His straight to the point approach and get the job done was welcomed and allowed for everyone to gain appreciation for the work he’s trying to accomplish. We welcome his comments and suggestion and can’t wait to start implementing his recommendations.
We did miss out on his signature hat, but maybe someday!
Thanks for your help.
John Tauriello – President
Danbury, NH
Wallace develops and manufactures panelized wood building components and installs turnkey frame packages for commercial, multi-family, and residential construction projects in the Northeast US. We initially engaged Todd to introduce and implement lean manufacturing methods that would help us streamline our manufacturing and business processes. He brought much more!
Todd possesses analytical horsepower particularly strong knowledge about component manufacturing equipment and current best practices in our industry. He emphasizes a common-sense approach with plenty of real-world applications.
We have implemented several of Todd’s suggestions in our manufacturing processes and our business processes. In addition, he helped us plan and implement a relatively modest capital equipment investment that will help us dramatically increase our production capacity!
Todd was well worth our investment in his consulting services.
Ed DeBiasio - President
Innisfil, ON Canada
Over the years, United Truss (a subsidiary of United Lumber) has done an outstanding job of providing our customers with quality trusses for their building needs. We reached a point though where our manual practices were restricting our capacity to not only serve existing clients but also limited our ability to serve or target new customers. So in the midst of automating our plant and updating our production/design practices, we chose to contact Todd.
Were we ever glad we made the leap to request Todd’s consultation services. Todd’s consultation encompassed time and motion studies, best practices, the theory and practical components of lean manufacturing, which then enabled us to go back to the drawing board in terms of our pricing model. For years, we had been pricing our products without actually and properly tracking our actual costs. Todd’s teachings showed that we could and should incorporate proper costing fundamentals into our model, and the icing was he showed us how to do this.
Without a doubt, we made the right decision to hire Todd Drummond, and once fully implemented, we have no doubt that United Truss will reach heights we had never thought possible under our old regime. Our entire staff, encompassing our production and design staff as well, were both impressed and thankful for the ideas and instructions that Todd brought to the table.
Thanks, Todd.
Casey Hultquist - President
Chugiak, AK
We are a new truss company just north of Anchorage, Alaska. The company may be new, but the team I have put together to make this company work includes years of experience. I hired Todd at the very beginning of the planning process to help create a plant with high growth potential and minimal startup costs. Also, to implement the latest best practices, which he knows so well.
Knowing I was creating a more competitive market. The biggest thing I wanted to get right was our labor costing and pricing of our work orders. Todd was able to provide labor calculations based on time and motion studies that we were able to plug right into our truss engineering software. All the labor estimations were dependent on our equipment types, material size and number of the crew performing their assigned task. Not only did Todd show us how to properly set up our labor, he also showed us a much better way to price our work orders. Now we are very confident in how we are bidding our projects and are able to truly understand our cost and profit to best our competition. I clearly understand how our competition has been and is currently pricing their orders, but now we have a proven better method that will give us that much better of an edge over our competition. The old way of a simple cost markup for establishing the margin is now certainly obsolete. Especially when fighting the battle of keeping the shop full as well as making the most on every job
Since we are a new operation, I wanted to implement the best practices and methods in all areas of the company. After Todd spent a week explaining these and training our group, I am very pleased with what we learned. He was very methodical and thorough with all the different aspect of operations. Manufacturing, design, sales and administration issues were all covered in the training, which gave us a clear roadmap to follow. The old mentality of “This is how it has always been done” among members of our group was challenged again and again by the common-sense lean manufacturing best practices that Todd has created over the years. Nothing was off limits for discussion, and everything seemed to be discussed with lean manufacturing in mind. Quite frankly, my crew and I were very pleasantly surprised by all the changes in practices and the way we think about doing our different tasks to garner better results.
I highly recommend that anyone who wishes to improve on their current practices (or like I did) start a new operation make use of Todd’s services.
Tim Zavitz – Partner/GM
Mount Brydges, Ontario
London Panel develops and manufactures panelized wood building components and installs turnkey frame packages for commercial, multi-family, and residential construction projects in the Southern Ontario region. Our panels are created with what we thought was the best manufacturing processes available. Our framing stations contain two lines of modern IBS panel equipment lines with light bars and the exterior line includes additional squaring table and a multiple gun bridge sheathing station. This was not enough for our needs, so we sought advice from Todd for an overall assessment, as well as options with which to improve our methods.
If you think that the process of manufacturing wall panels cannot be elevated beyond the use of common methods, you would be mistaken. Todd showed us a far better system for increasing capacity in the same manufacturing floor space while reducing manpower (yes, it is possible). He also showed us other ways to improve just about every other area in our company. His training method for lean manufacturing emphasizes a common-sense approach with plenty of real-world applications that we implemented in the office and within the manufacturing process. Todd also revealed the most practical potential sales growth beyond wall panels and suggested ways in which we can plan for that in line with our core strengths.
Take my word, Todd was certainly worth the investment.
Michael McGee – Owner
Waddington, NY
I have been the General Manager of Roll Lock Truss for more than twenty-five years. I was not ready to close the doors when business declined due to the ailing national economy. We decided to call in Todd Drummond to take a fresh look at our operations and to make suggestions on what we should change. Todd took a straightforward and professional look at what we were doing and how we were doing it. Although I was originally troubled by his analysis, I quickly realized it was what the company needed to make a positive change.
Todd’s expertise in the truss manufacturing business showed us how to apply these principles, not only to the truss industry but also to our specific operation. His week-long consult took us down a path that displayed a logical and methodical progression of lean manufacturing principles and other issues that heavily affected the pricing, costing and quality of our final product. Once we fine-tuned Todd’s lean principles, he gave us very specific and direct suggestions that we could clearly see would immediately improve our bottom line.
The suggestions included everything from management, sales, and design to manufacturing and accounting. As the week progressed, I was amazed at how quickly he was able to analyze our manufacturing techniques and identify our problem areas. He did this by asking numerous questions so that he could not only understand complete production flow but also evaluate our use of resources such as personnel, plant space, and equipment.
Todd’s direct approach allowed us to realize our shortcomings. His recommendations were very straightforward and company-wide. As a business looking for improvement, it was what we collectively needed to hear. I have no doubt that we will improve our bottom line by implementing many of Todd’s recommendations. I highly recommend his services to anyone in the industry who feels a need for production improvements.
Gordon Byers – President
Point Edward, ON Canada
I kept seeing Todd Drummond’s newsletters and had spoken with him over the years, however money was tight and the cost seemed prohibitive. I finally took the chance and invested in
Todd’s lean manufacturing consulting services.
I wish I had hired him the minute I decided I was starting my own company. Every area from the equipment types, equipment layout, bidding methods, labor estimations and office practices were covered by Todd. His advice covered a great deal more than just the manufacturing. No rock was left unturned to be scrutinized and viewed with an eye for improvement. I am very impressed and pleased with his services. Implementing all of his ideas will take time but I know they already have and will make a real positive difference.
Corey Misenheimer – Managing Partner
Locust, NC
Todd Drummond calls himself a consultant, but he is really a “truss guy.” He has experience in design, sales, and a deep knowledge of lean manufacturing. Combining his knowledge with our experienced team got us a gross margin increase within the first 3 weeks.
Todd reviewed our production processes and procedures. Once he helped us match up some of our skill sets with our production equipment, we began seeing our production increase daily. We asked Todd to come in our business for a fresh look at our processes. We got an experience that improved every facet of our facility and team.
I originally was going to comment, “I didn’t want any of my competitors to call Todd Drummond.” Now I hope they will, so our industry can prosper from Todd’s knowledge.
Gordon Tober, Co-Owner, and GM
Leduc, AB Canada
In recent years, the market for truss manufacturing in Alberta has changed considerably. Our market has become extremely competitive by the excess of manufacturing capacity in comparison to the demand. As any manufacturer would do, the constant market changes require us to evolve to stay competitive and profitable. The one area that started this process was our desire to refine our estimating techniques. Our equipment had changed dramatically over the years but our bidding time estimations had not been properly updated. Todd provided us with time standards that were specific to the equipment that we use. This information allowed us to estimate our jobs with a dramatically increased level of accuracy on each project, regardless of its level of complexity. The time standards also gave us the information to measure our production and establish target output for each workstation in our shop.
However, time standards were not the only thing he helped us improve. He opened our eyes to all areas of our operation. He offered suggestions for lean manufacturing practices for both the shop and office. We are very pleased with the road map he has provided us with to improve just about everything we do. We are certain that these improvements will result in greater profits.
I recommend Todd’s consultation to any truss manufacturer looking to improve the bottom line.
The time and money were well worth it for improving our profitability.
Ryan Lodermeier – President/ Owner
Kamloops, BC Canada
Kamloops Truss Ltd opened its doors in 2005 under the direction of a partnership of three owners with decades of truss experience. Since our opening, we have experienced rapid success, which we attribute to our loyal customers and our high-quality standards for both our products and our customer service. Seven years later, we found ourselves fighting an uphill battle, dealing with declining markets and the fallout ramifications of the market changes. We knew we needed to make changes to our policies and procedures, but we did not where to start.
We looked at Todd’s consulting services as an investment and yet we were somewhat skeptical of some of his claims; but, based on his previous testimonials, we took a chance. There are no words to express how thankful we are that we chose to start changing our business with assistance from Todd Drummond. The moment he walked through our doors, he immediately began to gain our trust and open our eyes to the areas upon which we needed to focus our attention.
The training and knowledge we received from Todd Drummond far exceeded any and all of our expectations. Our company had some good fundamentals to build on, but since Todd’s consult, we now have a more positive, goal-orientated direction for our company. Todd has left us with the potential to create a more refined production and sales structure, to increase productivity and increase our total gross profits.
In essence, every area now has clear goals to help us achieve better results.
We are excited to implement these procedures with our new understanding of basic lean manufacturing principles and a new organization that is grounded in the use of teamwork skills. The realization of how these simple yet precise instructions from Todd can drastically change our bottom line has changed the everyday environment of our whole production team. Our entire teams, from plate pickers, truss stackers, builders, lead hands, sawyers, and designers to the partners themselves, are all 100% believers in Todd Drummond and his professional services and recommendations. As owners, we are very impressed with Todd’s approach and we are pleasantly surprised that he created optimists out of a group that initially held such strong reservations regarding change of any kind. We have no doubt in our minds that the road map and specific suggestions he gave us will indeed significantly improve our bottom line.
Chad Coons – President
Phoenix, AZ
The Phoenix construction market has been hit hard by the downturn in the housing industry. Like every other truss company in the area, we have tried to ride out this bad economy by downsizing and cutting every possible expense we could think of—including wages and office overhead. As the 1st quarter 2011 ended, it was apparent that all the cuts and internal adjustments were still not enough to affect a positive outcome. We realized it was time for a drastic change, or we would need to get out of the wood truss business altogether.
We hired Todd Drummond’s consulting services, thinking that a professional looking in from the outside could help us with some ideas on improving our operations and further cost controls. What we actually got was that—plus a lot more.
The ideas for changing the way we process the work orders from sales right through production were quite enlightening. The list of changes needed was long and, frankly, we were a little skeptical at the results Todd promised. We have been building wood trusses for decades, but Todd showed us many common-sense changes in procedure and flow that we have not been doing. Once he explained all the lean manufacturing rational, my team of people had to agree that he was right on the mark in every area. We are very appreciative for the many specific ideas and practices he suggested implementing to adjust to our current market needs. The savings potential is surprising and well worth the time and cost invested in his services.
What really surprised me was that not only did he talk about operational practices but he also provided sound advice on creating better market opportunities and other revenue streams. Phoenix is a tough market to say the least, but he showed us there are opportunities we were not exploiting and gave practical advice on how to do just that. I will not go into detail, but I will say he was far more helpful than just reducing our operational expenses. Now, we are very focused and hopeful about our future.
Victoria Truss Ltd. 2007
Luigi Mansueti - Owner
B.C. Canada
I have been working in the truss industry since 1987 and have owned my own truss manufacturing operation since 2007. One would be foolish to try making a go of it in the truss industry without believing in one’s own abilities. I have been involved in, and observed many truss operations, and thought I had a
good handle on best practices for truss manufacturing. Well, Todd has shown me far more than I thought possible. Mind you, we have been and continue to be a successful company. Todd simply showed us how to improve and I am very grateful for his advice.
I was glad that I did not get in the mindset that this was not the right time. Either, “We are too busy,” or, during the winter months, “Not enough sales.” We simply brought him in for a consultation right away, and Todd was able to help us in very short order. Our actual production increased substantially in just weeks when we took his advice! He also saved us thousands of dollars purchasing the wrong type of equipment and showed us which equipment would give us the most bangs for the buck. We are currently implementing his Truss Shop Labor Tracking software, which will help us to track the true cost of each order with a few mouse clicks.
The time and money required to implement Todd’s advice have been well worth it. If you want honest, unbiased, new ideas that make real improvements to your operations, give Todd a call.
Pete Bitney – Manager
E.B.C. Trusses Inc.
E.B.C. Trusses have been in business since 1973, so we have seen many changes through the years in our industry and its equipment. When we decided to purchase a linear saw it only made sense to contact Todd and get his opinion.
As a truss manufacturer, we didn’t have the time or the access to evaluate fully all of the linear saws that are available. Todd’s time study helped us to make an informed decision and potentially save thousands of dollars.
Thanks, Todd!
Terra Nova Truss
Mark Fox – Owner/GM
Glenburnie, ON Canada
Now was the time to take our company to the next level of best practices. We wanted to stay competitive in these uncertain times and remain profitable. We knew we should evaluate every area and aspect of our business. That is why we brought Todd into our operations. Todd helped us address key areas where we had some major issues.
The first area to address was implementing lean best practices in our production shop. A time standards system and lean practices have changed our whole production outlook for the better. Although we have been building trusses for years, Todd showed us how we could improve our efficiencies and reduce our cost.
The second was our bidding process. Now, every order can be processed using time standards, which he provided, with consistent results. Our older bidding method was flawed, and these common methods were ones we and our competition have been using for too many years. Due to Todd’s assistance, we clearly see the older methods’ shortcomings.
Todd provided a truly positive insight into your operations that made a solid difference.
Locke Truss Co. Ltd.
Gary Lalonde, President Locke Truss Co. Ltd.
Brockville, ON Canada
Locke Truss Co. Ltd. was established in 1968, and has long been known as the “Roof Truss Specialist”. Looking forward to the next 5 years in the very competitive South-Eastern Ontario Market, we know we were going to be facing very difficult times.
Todd was the “key element” in kick starting our journey on lean manufacturing. A large part of my staff as many years of experience and Todd’s methods in the 4 days of training worked very well and were just what I needed to get going. I was amazed at the response, and willingness to embrace to changes needed. We look at production methods, standardizing procedures and written processes.
I would also recommend to anyone looking to increase efficiency by taking a new look at production methods, or anyone who is integrating automation into their existing facilities, to use the services of Todd Drummond. Before making any capital expenditure that may not produce the return you are looking for.
Penn-Truss Manufacturing Inc.
Charles and Colin Penner – Owners
Saltcoats, SK Canada
We knew that implementing the time standards and lean manufacturing practices would have a very positive affect to our bottom line. However, time constraints from day-to-day activities were hindering us from doing it on our own in a timely fashion. Time standards required us to implement procedures and practices that we were unfamiliar with. Todd provided a guiding hand to implement proper practices and time standards. This makes a big difference. We went from talking about it to actually doing it in a matter of months instead of years.
If you want to stop talking about making changes and actually make the changes, we recommend hiring Todd’s services to get you where you really wanted to be.
Automated Builder Magazine Article
Fabco Building Components
Dan and Terry Tontarski – Owners
Watertown N.Y
Since the founding of FABCO in 1978, my family and I have witnessed and been a part of the evolution of the truss industry. One tends to develop the attitude that you know what is best for your business since; after all, you built it from the ground up. The reality is that you are operating in your own busy little corner of the world. Todd brought to the table a broader perspective, inviting us to question and compare our procedures with what he has witnessed in the industry as a whole. This led us to affirm some of our practices and change many others, resulting in a significant improvement in productivity. We are excited to move forward with the measurement and comparison of our productivity to the labor standards provided by Todd. We feel that our relationship with Todd has had a positive influence on our company. I would strongly encourage others to make what we have found to be a wise investment.
Automated Builder Magazine Article
Fabco – Changing methods for these harder times – April 08.pdf
Mar-Span Truss Inc
Gerry Frey – General Manager
Drayton ON Canada
Mar-Span got its start almost 20 years ago, building pole barn trusses and long runs of trusses. This has been our focus through the years, which is still the mainstay of our business. When the economy shifted, and our residential sector grew, we needed to be able to properly cost and market this style of project.
Hiring Todd fast-tracked our ability to efficiently design and build this style of project. His consultation was a breath of fresh air, a new look at production methods, and helped us standardize our whole process. I would recommend to anyone looking to increase efficiency by taking a new look at production methods, or anyone who is integrating automation into their existing facilities, to use the services of Todd.
Automated Builder Magazine Article
Terra Nova Trusses
Denis and Frank Galway – Owners
Mount Pearl, NF Canada
We felt the time was right to have a person like Todd give us an independent assessment of our entire operation. We were struggling with labor estimations on certain jobs, and Todd implemented the proper Time Standards for us to follow, which would allow us to be more precise on job costing. We discussed and received advice on the implementation of a marketing strategy, quality control, an incentive program, performance appraisals, and the principles of lean manufacturing. Todd has laid the foundation for our company to be a leader in our industry and improve our bottom line. I would not hesitate to recommend Todd to others in our field.
Automated Builder Magazine Article
Concord Truss Company
Jerel Phalines – VP of Operations
Woodbury Heights, NJ
Truss companies do not usually employ industry-specific consulting services. We don’t expect our plate/software sales representative to solve all the labor and logistical bottlenecks that exist in our truss plant. It’s always good to get a fresh perspective on the way we do things.
Todd’s industry experience was evident from his numerous suggestions to improve our plant’s efficiency. His suggestions were not a standard “how to run a truss plant” list; they were very specific to our truss plant. We implemented many of his suggestions quickly and are incorporating other suggestions as we continue to improve our shop in the long-term.
Todd Drummond Consulting LLC
Copyrights © 2002-2023 Todd-Drummond.com
Todd Drummond Consulting LLC
Copyrights © 2002 - 2021 Todd-Drummond.com
(603) 748-1051
todd@todd-drummond.com
www.linkedin.com/in/todrummond