| Having
supervised several design departments, I've
come to realize that panel design is many times
more difficult to produce error-free than truss
design. Any component plant can analyze their
framing back-charges and see the ratio of panel
related issues verses roof or floor framing
problems. The bulk of these issues are design
related. It is this very statistic that causes
many truss fabricators to avoid adding a panel
fabrication department to their business.
 Over
the past few years plate manufacturers have
created layout and design software with which
any Cad operator with no framing experience
can design roof and floor components! Some
truss plate manufacturers are adding panel
design software to their suites out of necessity
for customer demands. But the glaring truth
about panel design is you MUST know something
about framing to make the decisions you need
as a software operator when designing panels.
 The
last bastion of the pickup truck framer is
also the last part of the component equation
to succumb to the inevitability of design
and prefabrication. Seemingly the easiest
part of the framing process to install and/or
butcher and repair, the wall panel has many
more variables to reckon with than span, pitch,
and heel height! Stud grades, size, and spacing
depth, wall height and depth, plate grades
and thickness, rough opening sizes, plate
laps, corner and tee/partition configurations,
sheathing types and grades, Stud arrangement,
e.g.staggered, straight, single and double
stud configurations, quantity of top or bottom
plates, 2nd top plate ship loose or field
apply? and the list goes on...
That's
why you need our network of experienced panel
designers.
|
