SEPT/OCT 2014
H
business elite canada
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in most warehouse roof spaces. The lightweight
steel truss uses a triangulated web system to pro-
vide direct support for the roof, and the angles
and joists have traditionally been welded by hand
as part of their labour-intensive manufacturing
process. The industry had been controlled by just
a few steel manufacturing companies, O’Neill ex-
plained, and despite repeated efforts, they had
never been able to find a way to automate that
process.
Eventually, Burnco’s research and development
team realized that the only way to automate
production of the joist design was to change the
product. They created a new open web steel joist
using a light gauge steel and launched a trial proj-
ect, putting the design through a proof of concept
line. The end result was a competitively priced de-
sign that will eventually become more economi-
cal than the current joist, given the rising costs of
base materials, O’Neill said. Because this type of
joist is primarily used in North America, there’s an
opportunity for Burnco to market their new de-
sign internationally.
“We’re looking forward to going around the
world with this design and bringing it to any oth-
er country that’s building large buildings,” O’Neill
said, “even in what could be considered very poor
countries, because of increasing industrialization
