How product knowledge gives glulam sales a lift

I S YOLJR sales staff uptospeed onthe I benefits of glued laminated timbers?

Most designers, builders and contractors have come to appreciate the endless sizes, spans and shapes. They want the product for its load carrying capability and near elimination of checking, twisting, warping and shrinking which plague solid-sawn timbers. Is your company ready to provide the product and service they need?

Tom Willian$on, executive vice president of the 40-year-old American Institute of Timber Construction (AITC) which claims to have fathered the development of engineering and quality control standards for structural glued laminated timbers, believes in knowing what you're selling. "To provide customers with the best solutions for their building projects, lumberyard personnel must have a working knowledge of glued laminated timber," he emphasizes.

The next key to sales, he says, after yard personnel have developed comprehensive product knowledge, is developing a relationship with manufacturers and wholesalers that allows delivery of glulams on a relatively short three to five day schedule. One or two day deliveries may be possible with high volume operations, but most glulam customers rcalize that they're buying a specialty engineered wood product and plan for longer delivery periods, he adds.

With many sizes (lengths up to 60 feet down to quick-delivery small stock beams for window and garage door headers) and shapes plus three appearance grades available, even the best stocked lumberyards can't inventory all the glulams available. However, Williams points out, on-site samples can satisfy the theory that "nothing sells wood better than its actual look and feel."

Virtually all glued laminated beams made in the U.S. conform to the manufacturing and quality control specifications of the American National Standards Institute standard ANSI A 190. 1 - 1983. The AITC quality marks stamped on a glulam assure conformance with all ANSI quality requirements, Williamson stresses.

Stonl at a Glance

How a yard can get readyfor prcdicted incrcased glulam demand. an informed staff and a good supplier are needed... AITC can help with literature and a software program.

A recent study by George Carter and Affiliates predicted that glulam sales will more than double by 2000, compared to 1990 levels. To help dealers prepare for this, AITC has ready a large stock ofdescriptive glulam product literature. They also have given lumberyard service a big boost with the development of the GL Sizer computer software.

Sponsored by AITC, this program designedfor IBM and IBM clones helps lumberyard personnel quickly and accurately determine the conect size of glulam beams for virtually any job. Using the customer's description of spans, loads, slopes, etc., the program determines sizes step-by-step for each individual member with applicable stress combinations for the optional beam sizes generated. It can provide a comple0e engineering analysis with all of the necessary information for engineering review.

The user friendly program has a detailed user manual as well as an 8(X) assistance telephone number. Convinced that the program's performance will help dealers expand glulam sales, AITC has priced it under $50, Williamson says.

Both glulam literature and computer software are available from AITC headquarters in Vancouver, Wa., phone: (206) 254-92i2-editor.