Engineered Labor Clarity for Truss Manufacturers
Measure Labor in Time—not a Proxy
Work Minutes, R.E., S.U., and man-minute standards create a clearer basis for costing, scheduling, staffing, productivity, pricing, and capacity decisions.
What Better Labor Information Supports
One consistent time-based measure helps management compare unlike jobs and make capacity visible.
Costing
Estimate labor demand for the work instead of relying on broad averages.
Scheduling
Load production using expected labor time and job complexity.
Productivity
Compare actual performance with a defined, validated expectation.
Pricing & Capacity
Evaluate margin dollars per constrained hour and protect scarce capacity.
Use the right measure for the question
Board Foot and Work Minutes Can Coexist
Board foot remains useful for sales reporting and familiar company comparisons. It does not describe how much labor a specific job should consume when design complexity, material, equipment, setup, and production methods differ.
A Practical Path to Useful Standards
Standards become valuable only when they fit the operation and are validated against real conditions.
Configure
Select time elements that reflect equipment, materials, staffing, layout, and production methods.
Validate
Compare estimates with observed operating conditions and correct unsupported assumptions.
Apply
Use the proven measure for costing, scheduling, productivity, pricing, and capacity decisions.
Client Experience
Keith Kylmala, Owner
Kylmala Truss · Saginaw, Minnesota
From standards to connected data
TWE Is Being Developed to Automate This Work
TWE is being developed to calculate CM-specific Work Minutes from supported truss data across all five major plate-provider environments and pass useful management information into AppWright. A future phase is planned to compare captured shop labor with estimated labor.
Where Are Labor Assumptions Limiting Better Decisions?
TDC Time Standards are available with or without an on-site consultation. Describe the costing, scheduling, productivity, or capacity question you need to solve.
Important: Work-minute standards are planning benchmarks, not guarantees of exact time, cost, productivity, savings, or profit. Results depend on equipment, materials, staffing, layout, methods, data quality, training, and ongoing validation. Client results describe particular experiences and should not be read as typical outcomes.