INSIGHTS

During her PhD, Dalhousie University student and Bliss Bioproducts CEO Roksana Saleh optimized a growing medium that more than tripled plant yields compared with regular planting soil.

There is a point on almost every architectural woodwork project when the manufacturer looks at the drawings and sees something everyone else has missed. Maybe the material will not behave the way it appears on paper. Maybe the hardware…

An assembler is looking for a missing part. A production manager gets interrupted with questions about a job. Someone searches through paperwork for special instructions. A customer calls for a status update, setting off a chain of people…

Lee Welch started building cabinets in his garage in 1989. More than three decades later, Greystokes Millwork operates from Vernon, B.C., but still works in a part of the market where a kitchen is often only the beginning of the job.

Jean-Stéphane Bourque did not come to architectural woodwork through the shop floor. He came through accounting, banking and a succession of businesses where he had to learn how an operation worked without pretending to be the person best…

AI spending continues to rise, but the returns remain uneven. Manufacturers are adding AI to estimating, scheduling, quality inspection, maintenance, inventory control and production reporting, yet many still cannot show that it has reduced…

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools are changing how employers are making decisions and managing their workforces. As AI becomes increasingly integrated in the day-to-day operations of the modern workplace, used for recruitment, performance…

Family-owned businesses are the backbone of the Canadian economy. They make up more than 60 per cent of private sector enterprises, account for nearly half of private sector gross domestic product, and employ millions of people across the…

For cabinet, furniture and millwork manufacturers, some of the equipment operates well outside conventional secondary woodworking. But the show offered a look at how other wood manufacturers are dealing with familiar production pressures:…

Employee recruitment, engagement and retention are among the hottest topics in business today – and for good reason. Surveys by Gallup show only 30 per cent of North American employees are engaged at work, while a staggeringly low 13 per…

At IWF Atlanta 2026, automation extended from estimating and part tracking to material handling, equipment integration and production visibility.

Whatever you sell, you must constantly work to improve every part of your business or you’ll fall further behind until you become irrelevant and fade away. Here are four steps to fix what needs fixing in any business.

At IWF Atlanta 2026, coating, dispensing and sanding suppliers focused on reducing variation in finishing, from faster-curing coatings and repeatable colour mixing to inspection lighting and robotic surface preparation.

Warm woods, matte finishes and tactile textures appeared repeatedly. At the same time, suppliers were investing in synchronized embossing, matching edgebanding, lightweight panel construction, simplified hardware and integrated lighting.…

Cyber threats are more sophisticated than ever, and the construction industry is no exception. While firms focus on physical job sites, cybercriminals are exploiting digital vulnerabilities in project management software, IoT devices, and…

Across single- and multiple-dwelling construction, national renovation investment increased from about $19.52 billion in Q2 2025 to $23.28 billion in Q2 2026, a gain of roughly 19 per cent. New-construction investment moved in the other…

One of the most common issues in cash flow for construction companies is poor accounts receivable management. Losing grip of your receivables can bleed any company dry, leaving business owners to depend on cash reserves to stay afloat.

New U.S. tariffs introduced in August 2026 are broadening the trade pressures facing Canada’s secondary wood manufacturing sector. The measures now reach beyond previously tariffed finished products into selected furniture, millwork, panels…