Automated Builder January 2010 : Page 23

you can never create accurate time estimations based on his- tory. And yes, I do provide accurate labor estimations for my clients during consultations. 2) How do you know that past labor rates for orders pro- cessed are close to what they should be? You could very well have an ineffi cient shop. Yes I know your shop is the best and no one can fulfi ll the orders better or more effi ciently. Please bear with me and allow me to give you one golden nugget of information. Time standards (man-minutes) are created for what should be done using proper manufacturing methods. Labor cost rates are based on what is actually being done. Therefore you estimate labor cost accurately based on what your manufacturing is actually doing and you create time standards based on what your labor effi ciencies should be doing under normal conditions. One is labor rate effi cien- cies (shop effi ciencies) and the other is labor cost (shop labor cost). When companies implement the lean principles provided by my consulting services there is a normal 5- to 10-point gain in net profi t (points not percentage) when all the better practices are implemented. (See my website at http://todd-drummond.com/references.html for testimonials.) I know what will happen in most companies after a manager reads this article. You are going to have your top designer or salesperson look at your current labor estimation. Neither of them will have any idea what motion and time studies are. They will more than likely call your plate vendor to help revise your labor estimation in the software. And that person has also never been trained in motion and time stud- ies to help revise your labor estimations. He will run a few trusses, less than a dozen, to compare and contrast estimates versus what he thinks it should be. In the end you will get pretty much what you already have and he will claim it is perfectly good based on the ‘average.’ Here are some tips for proper labor estimations (time standards): • Understand the difference between setup, run/build and support. This is very important for grouping and categorizing the labor. How else are you going to compare how long the sawyers should take to cut the order or the builders to build the order? In other words time standards are necessary for shop effi ciency! • Understand what can and what cannot be properly measured and used for time standards. Most companies fail to understand this principle. Hint: Reliable time standards cannot be created for lumber picking but one can account for lumber picking labor costs. This can be a confusing concept but is very understandable to one who has studied the matter properly. • If the number of individual defi nitions is less than a dozen you are nowhere close to being accurate on an indi- vidual truss or even the order level. An example of a single defi nition would be how much time it takes to place a 2x4 into the saw. I typically have an average of 25 to 30 different defi nitions to properly estimate the time standards. So now you have a lot to think about concerning your cur- rent labor estimations. I made enough plugs about my labor tracking software and consulting services to let you know that I can help you resolve this serious problem but now you have to make an important decision. Answering these two questions will help: Is your truss labor estimation good enough in this market? Why not make it better? For more information visit www.todd-drummond.com, call 603.763.8857 or circle Reader Service No. 155. JANUARY 2010 Obituary CLARKTON, NC—(Harry) David Olden, long-time profes- sional salesman for several of the major machinery producers for the component industry, passed away as a result of a vehicle accident on his farm here on December 4, 2009. At the time Dave was a con- sultant for a number of companies in the United States and Africa. He also served as an ad representative for Automated Builder magazine. Dave is survived by two sons, Dave Olden 1935 - 2009 Vince and Daren, a daughter Cheryl Mercer, four brothers, Tom, Johnny, Joe and Mark and four sisters, Katherine, Joan, Mary and Julie plus nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild. By John Dawick, Wilmington, NC I probably fi rst met Dave Olden some time in 1978, my fi rst year working in the engineering department at Gang-Nail Systems in Miami, FL. I expect Dave was in town for a sales meeting and my guess is that we met for the fi rst time when he walked through the engineering offi ce, stopping often to thank designers, engineers and draftsmen who had helped him or his customers. Dave always believed in showing appreciation when people helped him. I’m not sure what his fi rst words were to me but they were probably some- thing like, “Thanks for all your help with the customers.” He seemed to be fearless about most things and he had a sales- man’s instinct, some of which could have been learned but I suspect he was born with it. Dave and I worked together in a small booth at BCMC in 2004. Between us we probably knew at least half the people that came by. We were both enjoying working the show but we were not making many sales. At one point I noticed Dave talking to an acquaintance we both knew and in few minutes Dave brought him over and we wrote up an order. “How did you do that?” I asked later and Dave replied, “I just sensed that he was ready to buy.” That salesman’s sense had served him well during his long sales career. Dave could tell a good story and he had many to tell. They were stories about his life and his many adventures on the road. He told them fast, punctuated with lots of laughs. I believe he enjoyed tell- ing them as much as we enjoyed hearing them and we didn’t really mind how often he told them. Outrageous stories, hilariously funny stories and I don’t think he embellished them, he didn’t need to. Of- ten I watched people at neighboring tables at a restaurant stop their conversations and incline their attention toward Dave as he related one of his yarns then try not to laugh too obviously at the inevitable hilarious conclusion. It wasn’t until 1990 when Louisiana-Pacifi c purchased Mitek Wood Products and I moved to Wilmington, NC where Dave lived that I got to know him much better. There were not many of us in those early days of LP Engineered Wood and Dave and I worked closely together and worked hard wearing a number of different hats. Dave loved his toys and I could devote far more time and type than we have available to the many and varied machines that he owned during the time I knew him. Motorcycles, ATVs and hover- crafts were just a few of his adventurous hobbies. I’m not sure when it was; probably on one of the long over-the- road trips when Dave and I swapped yarns for hours. He told me some of his life’s experiences and the memories of his boyhood on a farm in Kansas. And he told me several times that he would like to have some land, a small farm of his own some time and a black Labrador. Well, he realized that dream and spent some happy years with his “toys;” various tractors, lawnmowers and vehicles on his acres in Clarkton, NC, faithfully accompanied by his black Lab. www.automatedbuilder.com 23

Obituary

John Dawick,

CLARKTON, NC—(Harry) David Olden, long-time professional salesman for several of the major machinery producers for the component industry, passed away as a result of a vehicle accident on his farm here on December 4, 2009. At the time Dave was a consultant for a number of companies in the United States and Africa. He also served as an ad representative for Automated Builder magazine. Dave is survived by two sons, Vince and Daren, a daughter Cheryl Mercer, four brothers, Tom, Johnny, Joe and Mark and four sisters, Katherine, Joan, Mary and Julie plus nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild. I probably fi rst met Dave Olden some time in 1978, my fi rst year working in the engineering department at Gang-Nail Systems in Miami, FL. I expect Dave was in town for a sales meeting and my guess is that we met for the fi rst time when he walked through the engineering offi ce, stopping often to thank designers, engineers and draftsmen who had helped him or his customers. Dave always believed in showing appreciation when people helped him. I’m not sure what his fi rst words were to me but they were probably something like, “Thanks for all your help with the customers.” He seemed to be fearless about most things and he had a salesman’s instinct, some of which could have been learned but I suspect he was born with it. Dave and I worked together in a small booth at BCMC in 2004. Between us we probably knew at least half the people that came by. We were both enjoying working the show but we were not making many sales. At one point I noticed Dave talking to an acquaintance we both knew and in few minutes Dave brought him over and we wrote up an order. “How did you do that?” I asked later and Dave replied, “I just sensed that he was ready to buy.” That salesman’s sense had served him well during his long sales career. Dave could tell a good story and he had many to tell. They were stories about his life and his many adventures on the road. He told them fast, punctuated with lots of laughs. I believe he enjoyed telling them as much as we enjoyed hearing them and we didn’t really mind how often he told them. Outrageous stories, hilariously funny stories and I don’t think he embellished them, he didn’t need to. Often I watched people at neighboring tables at a restaurant stop their conversations and incline their attention toward Dave as he related one of his yarns then try not to laugh too obviously at the inevitable hilarious conclusion. It wasn’t until 1990 when Louisiana-Pacifi c purchased Mitek Wood Products and I moved to Wilmington, NC where Dave lived that I got to know him much better. There were not many of us in those early days of LP Engineered Wood and Dave and I worked closely together and worked hard wearing a number of different hats. Dave loved his toys and I could devote far more time and type than we have available to the many and varied machines that he owned during the time I knew him. Motorcycles, ATVs and hovercrafts were just a few of his adventurous hobbies. I’m not sure when it was; probably on one of the long over-theroad trips when Dave and I swapped yarns for hours. He told me some of his life’s experiences and the memories of his boyhood on a farm in Kansas. And he told me several times that he would like to have some land, a small farm of his own some time and a black Labrador. Well, he realized that dream and spent some happy years with his “toys;” various tractors, lawnmowers and vehicles on his acres in Clarkton, NC, faithfully accompanied by his black Lab.

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