TIP TIG Welding is always better quality than TIG and 100 to 500% faster with superior quality than TIG - MIG - FCAW.

 

MIG Welding and Flux Cored.

Read how Ed's USA - Europe Pulsed MIG overlay clad patent, developed
for WSI, Atlanta, will dramatically improve global boiler, water walls.

Ed's vertical down, pulsed MIG Inconel / stainless overlay welds.

The following are a few of the companies or applications that Ed has generated dramatic cost reductions through robot weld process optimization. Harley - GM - Corvette - Volvo - Ford / Chrysler - Subaru - Volkswagen - Mercedes - Honda - GE - ABB-Westinghouse - Babcock - Textron - General Dynamics - Imperial Oil - Combustion Engineering - Hydro Aluminum - Hayes Lemmerz - Fruehauf Trailers - Case - Club Car - Genie - Sky Track - Manatowic - John Deere - Caterpillar - Johnson Controls - Monroe.

Click to view other companies that
have benefited from Ed's MIG Welding process improvements

MANAGEMENT & WELD LIABILITY CONSEQUENCES: The list of annual catastrophic weld failures grows larger every year.

In the industries that utilize the MIG and flux cored process, hundreds of millions of dollars are daily spent on unnecessary NDT costs, weld rejects and weld rework. Look at the weld quality on those truck frames, the welds on those industrial machines, the welds on those process machines, weight lifting equipment, ships, bikes, trains, bridges, pipe and heavy duty construction equipment.

If you have any doubts about why anyone should be concerned about global MIG and flux cored weld quality, you may want to take trip to my Bad Weld Section and read about about the buildings and bridges that toppled during the last major earth quake in California.

The CA buildings that were supposed to stand tall during seismic loads, toppled due to the use of unsuitable Lincoln, Self Shielded flux cored wires, poor weld techniques, and inexperienced construction supervisors, engineers and project managers who were and possibly still are not qualified to make sound weld process decisions. For decades, the two control MIG and flux cored weld processes have been capable of producing consistent, optimum weld quality and productivity, yet these processes too frequently do not attain their manual or automated weld quality or productivity potential.

EVIDENCE OF MIG WELDING AND FLUX CORED WELD PROCESS CONTROL RIGOR MORTISE, IS FOUND THROUGHOUT THE WELD INDUSTRY:


The year was 1984. I wrote the following in a weld report to the weld management at one of the largest oil refineries in Houston Texas. At the refinery a new section was about to be added. The pipe project required over a thousand pipe welds. At the refinery, there was great resistance from both the engineers and project management to using the cost effective, all weld position, gas shielded, flux cored wires. In contrast to the traditional SMAW (stick) and TIG process used for the pipe fill pass welds in your new refinery pipe construction, the labor weld cost savings on this project with the use of the gas shielded flux cored process, would have been around two million dollars.

In the 1984 weld report to the Houston refinery management, Ed wrote: "On the subject of weld process quality / productivity optimization for the new pipe welding installations at your refinery. During the weld meetings I attended with your contractors and project managers, I hope you are aware that those engineers and project managers that were the most vocal against the utilization of the highly cost effective, easy to use gas shielded flux cored process, were the least qualified to have an opinion on this important welding process".

Management and Process Ownership.

Management, Consequences and Liability.

Every manager and engineer in an industry that deals with critical weld applications, should ask the following fundamental question. Do the managers and engineers in this corporation, daily hold themselves fully accountable for the quality of the products manufactured?

 

2007:: Many managers and engineers have kept their
petro chemical, pressure vessel and pipe industries
stuck in a welding time warp.

2007: You would be astonished to find that in the next decade, many global chemical plants, refineries and, power plants will be constructed using SMAW (stick) electrodes and TIG as the primary weld process. The processes, weld consumables and procedures utilized in the next decade to build these billion dollar projects were likely established in the 1950's and 1960's. Thanks to design, and project engineers who lack a comfort level with any process other than the stick and TIG process, few construction projects will utilize the much more cost effective, easier to use MIG and flux cored processes for the millions of welds required.

 

THOSE MANAGERS AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS THAT ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO MAKE WELD PROCESS DECISIONS, TYPICALLY WILL HAVE A DIFFICULT TIME WITH PROCESS OWNERSHIP. THESE GUYS WILL TYPICALLY RECOMMEND PROCESSES USED ON PAST PROJECTS. PROCESSES SUCH AS TIG AND STICK (GTAW - SMAW). THIS NONSENSE HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR MORE THAN THREE DECADES.


It's Aug. 2007. I have just been in a plant in which DOW chemical engineers, and I use the word engineers loosely, had requested that a 3 inch (75mm) thick, 304 stainless nozzle, approx. 8 feet in diameter was to be welded with 1/8 (3.2 mm) diameter stick electrodes.

I wonder if the corporate management at DOW are aware that for more than three decades, many of their engineers and project managers have on numerous construction projects dramatically increased the weld construction costs for the simple reason they insist on the utilization of "stick electrodes", ignore MIG, and lack the confidence to recommend a thirty year old, gas shielded flux cored process.

When welding pressure vessels, pipe or structural applications, the flux cored process is far easier to use than SMAW or GTAW. The superior flux cored process would have increased the weld quality, reduced the weld heat input, dramatically increased the weld deposition rates and decreased the labor costs by 400 to 700%.

STICK TO FLUX CORED WELDER = THREE DAYS TRAINING: It's ironic that as global managers complain about a shortage of weld personnel for their construction projects or factories, that these managers will not be aware that it takes less than three days training to convert a stick pipe welder into a flux cored / MIG pipe welder. To attain optimum training results, ensure these welders receive my CD flux cored process control training program.


NONE WELDERS TO MIG OR FLUX CORED WELDER = TEN DAYS TRAINING : If managers can hire workers with the right attitude and these workers have never welded with any welding process, my MIG / FCAW process control training program will in less than 10 days turn these workers into highly skilled welders that will not play around with their weld controls. The welders who will undergo the traditional hands on skills training and should also be provided with my unique CD "process control training program" available here. These weld personnel will have the ability for process optimization and should be able to pass any pipe, pressure vessel, ship yard or structural all position flux cored / MIG welding test.

Ed providing MIG Process Control Training for
robot personnel at a Magna plant in USA.


MIG welds on a car / truck, or in the root pass of a pipe. Optimum welds
comes from optimum parameters and the correct techniques.

On the left, Ed training ship yard welders on how to use flux cored wires without playing around with the weld controls. In the middle, Ed shows 11 old Jesse how to pulsed MIG weld the root pass on a 16 inch, natural gas pipe. On the right, Ed training highly experienced, Imperial Oil, SMAW pipe workers how to use MIG and flux cored on pipe welds.

With the MIG and flux cored processes it's not uncommon to find three missing links in global weld shops:


[1] Lack of weld management / engineering Weld Process Ownership.

[2] Lack of the establishment of Best Weld Practices.

[3] Lack of the establishment of effective Process Control Training programs that lead to the implementation of highly effective Weld Process Controls.

Perhaps it's time for the captains of the weld industry to roll up their sleeves, switch off those computers, step into the weld shop for more than five minutes. While in the shop look around and ask this question. What makes this weld shop better than a good weld shop in the 1960s?

Perhaps it's time for managers and engineers to examine the ownership, responsibility and accountability for the mismatch weld equipment they own.

Perhaps it's time to take those old MIG and flux cored weld processes and consumables and figure out a way to optimize them to attain optimum weld quality and productivity.

There are hundreds of companies in ten different countries that have reaped the cost benefits of Ed's weld Best Practices and weld Process Control expertise. Visit Ed's Best Weld Practices and Process Control training resources.

 

YOU WANT GAS SALESMANSHIP OR

you want the MIG Welding Gas facts

 

 

WELD PROCESS OWNERSHIP: Weld improvement recommendations will often come from shop floor personnel, however positive change which impacts either the weld quality and productivity should be controlled by supervisors and technicians and owned by engineers and management. From a report Ed provided to General Motors in the nineteen eighties.

Recommended reading for every weld decision maker.
"Ed's Management Engineers Guide to
MIG and Flux Cored Weld Process Control"

MANAGEMENT AWARENESS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF PROCESS EXPERTISE: Of course any organization should be exited about it's Six Sigma employees, or the implementation of the latest lean manufacturing craze or ISO spec, however be aware that when trying to optimize MIG welding robots, it's logical that Robot Programming and MIG Weld Process Control Expertise are the two primary keys to Weld Process Optimization.




THE PULSED MIG PROCESS AND IT'S ACHILLES HEEL: Even with the world's best pulsed equipment, when you lack process control expertise you can on many common applications still create serious weld issues.

When you have a moment, visit the Pulsed MIG Welding section. Find out about useless costly wave forms and Ed's perspective on the Pulsed MIG Achilles Heel.

For those interested in providing cost effective, optimum quality MIG and flux cored welds, its important that you;

[1] Have the ability to sort out the salesmanship from the weld process reality.

[2] Attain your weld process knowledge from practical people and from qualified sources, and most important, from your own hand's on weld trials.

[3] Have the ability and desire to take ownership and optimize the processes you control through the implementation of Best Weld Practices and Weld Process Controls.

 

Visit the most comprehensive weld process control training
data available on the MIG and flux cored processes.

 

2007: ENGINEERS AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF POOR WELD PROCESS AND CONSUMABLE CHOICES: In California and other US states, we have buildings, construction projects and bridges built in locations subject to seismic concerns and thanks to ignorant engineers, these projects are still welded with the most inferior weld consumables available, self shielded (SS) flux cored electrodes. Irrespective of what the salesman or electrode manufacturer tells you, the self shielded electrodes were and still are the worst possible choice for attaining multipass welds with consistent, acceptable weld quality on applications subject to dynamic or fatigue loads.

Most pipe lines, ship yards and construction equipment manufactures will not use the inferior SS wires. To attain quality welds they will utilize the superior "gas shielded" flux cored process. Engineers and architects who are too busy to read any welding books will frequently take advice from a sales rep or from the companies who make the SS weld consumables. This is again another example of lack of process ownership and that's how inferior weld consumables end up being used on critical projects built on seismic faults.

 

When welds that are supposed to hold, "don't"

THIS COULD HAVE BEEN A MOVIE: READ ABOUT THE LINCOLN SELF SHIELDED FLUX CORED WELD FAILURES AND STRUCTURAL WELDING FIASCO IN THE LAST BIG WEST COAST EARTH QUAKE?

It does not matter if you work in a ship yard, at a pressure vessel builder, or the world's largest oil platform, there will be serious cost, quality or liability consequences if management does not ensure it's weld decision makers have the weld process expertise necessary to select an optimum weld process and consumables for the application.

Please Note: The correct process and consumable selection becomes irrelevant, if weld personnel have to "play around" with the weld controls. Ensure the weld work force is provided with the process control training (nothing to do with skills training) necessary to optimize the process / consumables utilized.

There is always a price for weld process and weld consumable ignorance;

[a] the daily weld scrap will be expensive,
[b] the daily weld rework will be costly,
[c] the daily weld productivity will rarely meet it's potential,
[d] the weekly weld team meetings will be fruitless,
[e] the weld employee moral will be low,
[f] the weld failures and liability consequences could be dramatic.

 

THE MIG PROCESS IS 50 YEARS OLD,
WHEN WILL THEY EVER LEARN?

 

When company managers and engineers don't understand Robot Best Weld Practices and lack the ability to set Robot Weld Process controls, they produce Truck Frames that look like this.

 

An ironic point: A Big Three company had to get these truck frames welded by a tier one supplier because the Big Three managers / engineers lacked the robot / MIG weld process knowledge necessary to manage cost affective robot MIG welding lines in their plants. As these welds indicate, the tier one supplier engineers and managers seem to have the same lack of robot MIG weld process control expertise as the Big Three company.

 

Click here for an interesting perspective of the similarities
of poor weld management found in in the auto
and oil industries.

2007: Have you viewed Ed's new

"SEVEN STEPS TO ROBOT MIG / PULSED
WELD BEST PRACTICES / PROCESS CONTROLS"

Training Resources

 

 

LOOKING FOR A LOW COST, FAST SOLUTION TO YOUR ROBOT / MANUAL WELDING ISSUES. Phone / E-mail for Weld Help. Ed has resolved over 1000 companies weld issues. Many weld issues can be resolved on the phone or by E-mail. [] Are you having robot or manual weld issues that affect your weld quality productivity or down time? [] Are you ready to purchase weld equipment, gases or consumables and would rather not waste your money? [] Do you want the best method or procedure for a specific MIG / FCAW / SAW / PLASMA / GTAW application? Call Ed at 828 658 3574, (eastern standard time USA). or E-mail ecraig@weldreality.com The typical phone weld weld resolution fee is $375. Paid in advance. Visa or MC. Plant Weld Help... Ed will also visit you facility and provide hands on, instant solutions to all your robot / manual MIG / flux cored / GTAW / SAW / Plasma weld issues. Perhaps you require assistance in establishing Best Weld Practices or Weld Process controls. Perhaps you would like to take your plants to a manual or robot weld quality and productivity position you never thought possible or use one of Ed's unique, one day, highly cost effective weld process control training programs.

 

 

NO MATTER WHAT THE INDUSTRY, AS LONG AS IT
MIG AND FLUX CORED WELDS, YOU WON'T
HAVE TO LOOK FAR TO FIND WELD OWNERSHIP ISSUES.

 

 

FLUX CORED WELDS AND BROKEN SHIPS?

Over 300 ships will tear apart and sink this year.
Was it the ocean, the steel or poor weld practices?

The navy may go on missions looking for the elusive terrorists and the very well hidden weapons of mass destruction, however if I was a sailor on any global built vessel, I would keep my eye on the ship's welds and be just a little nervous about the next great ocean wave that pounds the ship and puts excess loads on those numerous, poor quality welds .

The greatest characters are found in a ship yard:

I have trained welders and assisted ship yards with weld cost reductions in both the USA and Canada. What a place a ship yard would be reality TV show. In the ship yards I worked with Norwegians, Swedish, Danish, German, Polish, Italian. English, Korean, Japanese, Yanks and Canadians and and don't forget those tenacious thick skinned, highly intelligent, canny, wee Scottish welders. My experiences with these hard working, great welding characters indicated that most played around with their weld controls and none of them had ever received MIG or flux cored weld process control training, (for you trainers stuck in the 1970s, MIG process control training has nothing to do with skills training). The ship yard experiences, increased both my sense of humor and the thickness of my skin and the experience taught me a great respect for the many welders who worked summer and winter in harsh conditions, men and women who often gave a hundred percent for ivory tower managers who rarely gave fifty percent. Click here for Ed's new MIG and Flux Core Weld Process Control Training resources.

The greatest evidence of lack of weld management process
ownership is found in many ship yards.

Visit all the Welding information at this Site.

 

 

ROBOT WELD QUALITY,
EFFICIENCY, PRODUCTIVITY AND COSTS.

HOW MANY DECADES WILL IT TAKE?

1987 to 2007: In the majority of global manufacturing facilities, robot weld best practices and process controls are rare, robot weld productivity is rarely optimized, robot weld efficiency is typically less than 60%, weld rework is too frequent and few managers or engineers understand the real cost of a simple 3/16 or 1/4 (5-6 mm) fillet weld. I first wrote this in 1987 and in 2007 little has changed.

Should engineers be hands on, or hands off?

In North America, thanks to manufacturing practices preached from some confused manufacturing executives in Detroit, the auto and truck industry has over three decades developed armies of white collar "hands off" managers and engineers. Perhaps the annual > 20 billion dollars spent in the auto / truck industry on warranty claims, recall costs and rework has something to do with the engineering practices.

A COMMON PRACTICE IN MANY PLANTS: The process engineers document the less than optimum processes, while the QA personnel document the sad welding results. A question you could ask at many plants. What resources are in place to attain optimum process results that will ensure consistent weld quality and with minimum weld defects?

This site provides a clear and sometimes uncomfortable management message about common global MIG and flux cored weld issues that cost the weld industry hundreds of millions of dollars daily. This site also provides you with many of the root causes of those issues and the cost effective welding solutions.

The too common, leave it to the people on the shop floor engineering mentality has resulted in a global robot weld industry in which over worked and often under trained robot technicians frequently feel isolated. These technicians too frequently take too much ownership and responsibility for the plant's daily robot weld quality and productivity issues.

While focussed on the ISO standards or the latest lean manufacturing fad from Asia, global major auto / truck manufacturing QA managers have for decades placed focus on finding, rather than on preventing weld defects. Every day in the play around welding industry, hundreds of millions of dollars are wasted from inefficient manual / robot weld production, unnecessary weld rejects and extensive weld rework and yet the solution is a simple one, read one of Ed's books or examine Ed's MIG and flux cored CD, process control training programs .

 

CULTURE AND WELDS:

2007: ITS NOT LEAN MANUFACTURING KNOWLEDGE THAT SEPARATES THE NORTH AMERICAN AND JAPANESE CULTURES, IT'S THE MANAGEMENT AND ENGINEERING APPROACH TO WELD ACCOUNTABILITY, RESPONSIBILITY AND PROCESS OWNERSHIP.

It may come as a shock to the new president of Ford as he drove his Japanese Lexus to work, to find that the majority of metal fabrication engineers and managers in his organization are poorly trained in the implementation of fundamental Best Weld Practices or Weld Process Controls, also few of his managers have to date shown an interest in process ownership.

Visit any Big Three or Tier one part supplier on a weekend and you will find a robot technician who has already worked sixty hours from Monday to Friday trying to provide weld solutions to management and engineering induced problems. When did you last see a manager or a corporate type hanging around a robot weld cell on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon?

The primary difference between a Japanese weld manufacturing manager and a North American manufacturing manager is not process expertise. Typically the Japanese management actually will know less about production welding than the American managers do, (a scary statement). The difference between the two cultures will often be revealed by the management approach and management participation in dealing with the root cause of their manufacturing problems.


The typical American manufacturing manager will frequently be a fire fighter, forever chasing the production fires yet never finding out why they started. In contrast, the Japanese managers typically shows more than a passing interest in finding the root cause of the process or equipment solutions. In many instances, the Japanese manager may not find the optimum equipment or process solution, however the fact that the manager is prepared to spend time on the shop floor and has some interest in the process ownership will usually have beneficial results.

<2007: Anyone who has had to work with Japanese welding robots should be aware that during the last two decades, a common Japanese Achilles' heel in high volume weld manufacturing has been their undaunted belief in ineffective, costly, useless electronic bells and whistles. Who else but the Japanese would build plants in North America and believe that the only robots, weld equipment and consumables that would work, had to be made in Japan.


If the Japanese managers in North American facilities truly understood welding and evaluated the Japanese products frequently forced on them, they would find that in most instances the Japanese equipment and process performance was inferior to alternative products made outside Japan. These managers would also find that during the last two decades, a prime root cause of their auto / truck robot welding issues was Japanese poor performing, inconsistent MIG welding equipment. To read more on Japanese robots and pulsed MIG weld equipment issues, visit the MIG , Pulsed MIG and robot sections of this site.

Ed Set the Robot welds on this Genie equipment, and set the robot welds on
Club Car golf cart he used in this ship yard when training the welders
in flux cored process optimization.

Too many North American manufacturing companies travel this southern route.


[] Over spend on robots, equipment and fixtures.

[] Don't build the robot welded parts in accordance with the design dimension tolerances

[] Don't build fixtures that will optimize the weld quality and production potential

[] Suffer the weld production / quality consequences of a lack of management process ownership.

[] Don't understand the process control training programs necessary for their employees.

[] Shut down the robot lines, sweep the manufacturing problems under the rug, say adios amigo, then ship the parts, equipment and jobs to Mexico.

 

Weld Quality, Responsibility,
Accountability and Ownership.

IN MANY OF THE BIG THREE PLANTS I VISITED, THE MOST DIFFICULT
THING TO FIND WAS A MANAGER WHO ACCEPTED WELD
MANUFACTURING OWNERSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITY.

Car / Truck: Middle Management. In the last decade the big three have lost more than 100 billion dollars to unnecessary product warranty, recall rework and loss of productivity issues. How many manufacturing managers or engineers have looked in a mirror and felt a twinge of guilt about their influence on the quality of the products they produce and the unnecessary costs they generate.


Car / Truck: Designers. If the designers at the Big Three companies believed the cars they designed for the last two decades was what Americans truly desired, then shame on them. You all know their products, the only place they look good is in a Wallmart parking lot. The next time you get dragged to Wallmart take a look around the parking lot. You will find it difficult to distinguish that Ford product from the GM or Chrysler product.

It's also a SAD FACT that the majority of designers have shown minimal interest in the welding processes used to join their parts. Many of their parts that daily end up in the weld reject / rework bins would have had less weld issues if the designer understood the compatibility of the weld process used on their components.

Designers could read a welding book and get familiar with the processes that join their parts. Then again why bother?

Car / Truck: Workers. As the shop floor employees daily walk past the full reject / rework bins located in their work areas, and in the lunch room they read the reports on the annual warranty and recall costs, how many reflect on the legacy of Henry Ford, or remember a time just a few decades ago, when American cars and trucks were considered the world's best.

Car / Truck: Engineers: When Detroit or a tier one supplier had welding issues who did they look to the engineers or the technicians? I spent decades in Detroit manufacturing facilities and at the suppliers plants and could not remember three engineers who had control of the robot welding processes, however I met many technicians that struggled down the right path.

Confused HR personnel will frequently request that the newly hired weld engineer should have robot, press and paint shop experience. This common multitask request in a job description for someone to solve robot welding issues, is a reflection of the common ignorance and lack of understanding of management / HR for the expertise necessary for someone to control and to optimize a major process. HR departments take note, there are no multi process experts in North America and it's likely there never will be.

Wanted. Weld engineer with robot, welding, paint and press shop expertise: There are no multi-process control experts in North America. If the confused management does not know what it wants, and it tells the confused HR department what it wants, will the company get what it needs for process optimization?

 

THIS MAKES THE DREAM WELD TEAM.

THE ROBOT WELD DREAM TEAM? is a team made up of a manufacturing manager, production supervisor, mfg. engineer, maintenance manager, robot technician and a representative operator from the shop floor. Of course for the team be fully effective, some one on that team has to have extensive robot programming and weld process control expertise.


It's a sad reality, that many of the manufacturing engineers and managers involved in welding, have become little more than glorified purchasing personnel. To solve a weld process problem, these personnel or managers will frequently pick up a phone and contact an unqualified technician or biased salesman for advice.

When they need advice about a fifty year old process, over 80% of global weld shops will in the next month, pick up a phone and ask a sales rep.

Review Ed's Management & Engineers Guide to MIG
book and process control training resources.

 

2006: When you find in a manufacturing plant that the manual MIG welders are out of control, take a look in that plants robot MIG welding cells and you are sure to find weld production chaos and more robot weld rework than you need.

Most of the great world war one / two posters on this site are Fed Gov. Posters
available at Northwestern University Library. Ed has of course has
made subtle changes to the poster messages.

"MANAGEMENT AND LACK OF RECOGNITION FOR
THE REQUIRED TECHNICAL PROCESS EXPERTISE".

For decades as the global MIG weld industry focussed on "weld skills" rather than on weld process control expertise. This is the prime reason in the majority of weld shops you will find manual and robot MIG weld personnel "playing around" with the MIG weld controls.

THE LOGICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PROCESS OPTIMIZATION AND LABOR COSTS:

"Once management discovers the keys to optimize their plant's weld automation, they will find labor costs become secondary".

BEST PRACTICES AND A LACK GLOBAL WELD LOGIC:

Joe, I want to see you go on the weld manufacturing process offense, which has to be better than forever living with the costly weld results from our typical "hands off management defense".

When weld rework and related labor costs are considered in excess, manufacturing management might want to evaluate the resources they utilize on ISO, inspection and the latest lean manufacturing fads. Perhaps they could then compare that time and effort with the time they have spent on establishing Best Weld Practices and Weld Process Controls.

Recommended For all Managers, Engineers and Technicians:

[1] Ed's MIG and Flux Cored, Manual and Robot Best Weld Practices / Weld Process Control Training Programs.

How many Jobs did Bush generate?

SEPT. 2006: I WAS ASKED TO RECTIFY A ROBOT MIG WELD POROSITY PROBLEM ON STEEL PARTS FOR A TIER ONE SUPPLIER TO SUBARU AND TOYOTA. I VISITED THE MIDWEST PLANT ON THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND WHICH REVEALS THE QUALITY OF MY LIFE.

The robot MIG welded parts were galvanealed steel suspension parts and the robot cell welded 600 parts per day. The weld repair rate was over 15% and the final weld assembly cycle time was approx. three minutes forty seconds.

As the overworked programmer and I made the changes to the robot welded parts, I was amazed to find that the Japanese company president and "chief operating officer" stayed with us on both the Saturday and Sunday. The confused robots were from Motorman and the weld power sources were from Panasonic, from my past experiences this was a poor combination. The none pulsed, five year old Panasonic power sources were erratic, UN-calibrated and supplied poor arc welding characteristics. I have to work with the tools supplied, so in a ten hour period involving programming and process improvements, I got rid of the weld problems and gave the plant an unexpected bonus by lowering the robot weld cycle time from three minutes forty secs to one minute forty seconds.


The weld quality and productivity gains bought a big smile to that president and chief officer's face and my small enumeration was in the mail within a week. In the past decades, I provided similar process improvement to the Big Three and other part suppliers, however I rarely saw any real interest from the management for their manual or robot weld issues and my resolutions. Also I never saw a manager come in on the weekend to discuss or get involved with his plant's weld quality / productivity issues.

Using my MIG process manual / robot control training resources that took over 25 years to develop, any weld decision maker can with a few hours, master the MIG or flux cored process for any of the world's manual or robot welding applications.

IF MANAGERS AND ENGINEERS DON'T GET THE PROCESS CONTROL FUNDAMENTALS OF MIG, METAL CORED OR FLUX CORED, THEIR ATTITUDE AND APPROACH TO WELDING IS LIKELY TO BE, "WHY CHANGE, AFTER ALL THIS IS THE WAY WE HAVE ALWAYS DONE IT"

"We lost too many good paying USA manufacturing
jobs due to management incompetence".

1900s. In less than 18 months, Chrysler lost over 14 million dollars from a new robot welding line located in it's prime stamping facility in Ohio.

The robot line was designed to weld Neon cross-members. This line never made more than 50% of it's daily production goals and the daily weld rework was 100%. The welds were made with Lincoln, self shielding (SS) flux cored wires.

The Chrysler stamping plant manager requested my assistance. I came up with a MIG weld process solution to fix all the welding issues which were caused predominately by the poor choice of the the Lincoln SS wires. The SS wires were chosen by the Chrysler corporate weld engineer. For the wrong reasons, the Chrysler corporate weld engineer declined the low cost, proven process solution. Eventually the Chrysler management made a gutsy decision. The Neon stampings and almost new robots were loaded into trucks and shipped out of sight, south to Mexico. The reason for the robot line shut down and loss of jobs, was not the cheaper Mexican labor, the reason was the Chrysler management and engineers involved with the project;

[a] lacked the ability to design parts suited for robot welds,
[b] lacked the ability to build parts to their own design tolerances,
[c] lacked the ability to make rational weld process and consumable decisions,
[d] lacked the ability to establish effective robot weld process controls.
[e] lacked the ability to take responsibility and ownership for the equipment and processes they purchased.

The manufacturing Industry should take a lesson from this "hands off engineering event". More on the multi-million dollar Chrysler Story:

"JOE. GLOBAL COMPETITION SHOULD BRING OUT THE BEST,
NOT THE WORST IN A COMPANY"

UNFORTUNATELY IN THIS COMPANY, WHAT WE NEED
IN 2008, IS TO REDEFINE WHAT THE BEST IS.

02/08: Take a look inwards America. As congress wastes time interviewing base ball players about steroids and spending over a trillion dollars trying to find a 6' - 10" Arab, the USA debt is at its greatest, the infrastructure and economy is crumbling and our global respect has never been so low. It kind of reminds you of the Roman empire when it started to crumble. The Roman senators made rich with the payola from the senate lobbyist, were not interested in maintaining the empire or in it's fiscal responsibility, their plan was a simple one, keep the Roman public focus of the economy and on the Coliseum and the games.

You know why it's time for change.

"Boys it may be ironic, but you are standing on a great American ship made with
steels and parts supplied from Japan, China, Russia, S.Korea, and Germany".

"Now with one voice lets
all sing God Bless America".




Management?

IMAGINE THIS IN
YOUR WELD SHOP:

[] Imagine important, daily weld shop management and engineering decisions made without the aid of weld sales advice.

[] Imagine management and engineers reading a book or taking a course on MIG Weld Process Control or Best Weld Practices and actually taking an active roll in weld process ownership.

[] Imagine management and engineers who could look at a MIG wire feed control, the weld wire and weld size and instantly tell you the cost of a weld.

[] Imagine management and engineers that are responsible for robots and these individuals truly understand the "people process control training requirements" necessary to attain optimum, consistent manual or robot MIG weld quality / productivity.

[] Imagine manufacturing plants that own robots that daily can achieve > 98% production efficiency potential and never attain more than 2% weld rework.

To meet the above requirements you may wish to check out Ed's weld process educational and training resources, after all weld process knowledge is the logical step to the establishment of Best Weld Practices and Weld Process Controls.

"Accountability"

" LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO BLAME".

DID THOSE GUYS ON THE SHOP FLOOR SCREW UP AGAIN? During the last four decades in ten different countries, I heard complaints from hundreds of manufacturing managers and engineers about the problems of "those blue collar people on the shop floor" and their influence on the daily poor weld quality and productivity.




The message from this web site will always remain a fundamental one. If global weld management really wanted to know who was responsible for the root cause of their numerous, daily, manual and robot MIG / flux cored weld issues, all they have to do is look in a mirror.

WELD MANAGEMENT & SHIP CAPTAINS:
A qualified ship's captain will be well acquainted with the technical requirements of running a ship. The captain knows that he or she will have full ownership, responsibility and accountability for the daily operation and performance of his ship.

In contrast to the ship's captain, you will find the majority of global major manufacturers of welded components, will have managers and engineers (captains and officers) who have the misguided believe that equipment ownership and responsibility for daily weld production and quality should be controlled by the hourly paid individuals (crew) on the shop floors.

HOW MANY GLOBAL COMPANIES PAID FOR TWO
ROBOTS WHEN ONE ROBOT SET CORRECTLY WOULD HAVE DONE?



With common global robot MIG weld production efficiency typically in
the 40% to 70% range, and average daily robot weld rework in the
20 to 100% range, many plants will use 1.5 to 2 robots to do
the work that could readily be achieved by one robot.

Ed has developed the world's most effective MIG /
Flux Cored, manual / robot weld process control
training / educational resources.





What an environment a welding shop would be
without thick skin, a wise ass and a sense of humor.

If asked for his opinion on MIG spray transfer versus pulsed MIG to weld carbon steels > 6 mm, Albert who knew a lot about the structure of the universe and other important stuff, might have made the following statement.

Einstein's Theory on MIG welding. According to my theory. With the coalescence that forms in a steel weld joint > 6 mm, the nearly constant weld joules attainable from the low cost, durable CV MIG equipment that provides traditional spray transfer, will of course be superior to a pulsed MIG mode in which the alternating peak and back ground parameters are necessary to form a weld drop that falls axially across an open arc in a protected atmosphere.

A Pathetic Ed Joke:

IN MANY PLANTS, WHEN IT COMES TO ROBOT MIG WELDS, THE WHITE FLAG HAS BEEN RAISED FOR DECADES:

It's unfortunate in the many plants in which management and engineers shy away from their important manufacturing processes, that it's the shop floor workers that daily suffer the manual / robot weld consequences: In these plants the blue collar guys;

[a] rarely will receive parts to be welded that have dimensions in accordance with the design / manufacturing tolerances,

[b] rarely will be provided with the optimum size / type of weld consumables,

[c] rarely will be provided with optimum robot weld procedures that compensate for the part issues,

[d] rarely will be involved with management / engineered driven best weld practices,

[e] rarely will be aware of the weld costs or real world weld production efficiency potential of their robots,

[f] rarely will receive the required robot or manual "weld process control" training necessary to optimize the equipment, the process and the quality.

Yet these long suffering, mismanaged shop floor personnel will daily be held accountable for the plant's weld quality and productivity issues.

MANAGEMENT WHO LACK THE ABILITY TO EVOLVE A "PLAY AROUND" INDUSTRY.

Would a professional foot ball coach let the players play around in the middle of a game? Would a machine shop manager be happy to see a machines play round with the machine controls. Should a manger be happy to see his workers "play around" with the weld equipment controls while trying to attain daily consistent weld qualify and productivity?


A MESSAGE FROM A FRUSTRATED PLANT MANAGER: "Joe, after watching your robot personnel play around with those weld controls and reviewing the extensive robot weld productivity / quality issues in this plant, I can only come to one conclusion, it's time for us to change our approach to the robots and weld manufacturing.

Lets face it Joe, the people on the shop floor are not the root cause of our robot weld issues, the bottom line for this company is the plant "management" has the responsibility for the daily weld quality and productivity produced in the plants.

To attain effective weld process controls and establish best robot / manual welding practices, management requires the ability to recognize the process expertise necessary for the employees or teams that make the welding decisions. The most effective managers will be those who can recognize and provide the process control training essential for the employees. These Process Control Training Resources are all you need.

 

WHERE DOES THE THE BUCK STOP IN YOUR PLANT?

LIFE: It may be a generation thing, or just the way the world is, but have you noticed how difficult it is to find an honest politician who knows where the buck stops?

WELD MANUFACTURING: In many of the large, global manufacturing companies that consider welding an important process, you would have a difficult time trying to find a manager or engineer who will look you in the eye and state;

" WHEN IT COMES TO THE ROBOT WELD QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVITY, WE KNOW THE BUCK OFTEN STOPS IN THE WRONG PLACE".

Perhaps after five decades of MIG welding mediocrity and two decades of robot MIG weld travesty, it's time to place a more management and engineering focus on weld manufacturing Responsibility - Accountability - Ownership.

Each day up to twenty thousand global weld decision makers could visit this site. It's a pity that very few of them will be corporate or manufacturing managers and engineers who should have an interest in Best Weld Practices or Weld Process Controls.

DOES THIS ONE PICTURE TRULY REFLECT
THE GLOBAL MIG WELDING INDUSTRY?



Come on you chicklets or miglets, we have to
follow him, after all he is the weld "salesman".

MORE ON WELD MANAGEMENT AND "SALES RELIANCE": For over five decades, in the majority of global weld shops that utilize the MIG process, you would have found an umbilical cord attached from the weld shop supervisor, the manufacturing engineer or manager to a "weld sales person".

As a former training manager for three of the world's largest weld product suppliers, I have trained well over a 1000 weld sales personnel. I would estimate that less than ten percent had the right aptitude and qualifications to provide advice to a weld shop. If you are a supplier and have that one rare individual, hold on to him. The irony however, is that each day, the global weld industry looks for advice from a sales industry in which approx. 90% are not qualified to give that advice.

Many managers with their head in the sand are always looking for a crutch for their weld shop issues. That crutch is frequently the purchase of unnecessary three part gas mixes, costly ineffective metal cored wires and expensive electronic Inverters or pulsed weld equipment that will be laden down with useless bells and whistles.

While many managers did not think twice about the purchase of that inconsistent, poor performing $12,000 pulsed MIG power source for their steel weld applications, few managers have considered the cost effective feature benefits of providing low cost weld process control training to a work force that for decades has "played with the MIG weld controls".

With the right weld process control training, in a few hours, any worker would have the ability to be able to take a low cost $2000, traditional, "none pulsed" MIG power source, a simple two component gas mix and a low cost MIG wire and make it perform as well as a $12,000 power source.

THE COST OF SLOW WELD PROCESS EVOLUTION?

OR THE COSTS OF LACK OF BEST WELD PRACTICES & PROCESS CONTROLS?

How much bang do you get from
from your training bucks?

The major automotive plants will typically spend over a 140 million dollars annually on training, yet in Ford, GM and Chrysler plants, the typical MIG welder does not know how to set a MIG machine. I have witnessed many ridiculous things like, at a Ford plant, manual MIG welders welding on truck frames without contact tips in the MIG guns. All corporate management needs to take a closer look at the quality and effectiveness of it's training programs and reflect on the relationship between poor training, liability concerns, warranty issues, recalls, rework, poor productivity and lack of global best practices and process controls.

MANAGEMENT SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO MANAGE A PROCESS WITHOUT
THE ABILITY TO RECOGNIZE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR PROCESS OPTIMIZATION:

Every time new robots are ordered, the plant management will typically select personnel and send them to a "robot programming school" When I was the robot weld process training manager with ABB, it was notable that the Big Three management would send some employees for robot training who could barely read.

How many manufacturing mangers in the last two decades, gave consideration to sending some one for robot training and then sending that individual for robot weld process control training?

If you think weld process expertise is not important,
try this MIG Weld Process Control Test:

If you have an interest in establishing effective best practices and process controls, you may wish to provide your robot employees with this fundamental MIG and Robot Weld Process Control weld test. At the test completion ask yourself, is this the type of process control data our employees require to attain consistent, optimum manual / robot weld quality and productivity?

Ed spent more than 25 years developing the unique but very simple "Weld Clock Process Control" method. This is world's most effective MIG / flux cored weld process control training program. To ask Ed about this unique yet simple training program, contact Ed at.

E-mail. ecraig@weldreality.com
Phone North Carolina 828 658 3574.

"WELD SAFETY NEWS FLASH"

Important Safety Weld Concerns for 2007. Click here for the following weld safety issues. [a] OSHA held hearings on it's proposal to reduce the PEL for hexavelent chromium from 52 micrograms per cubic meter to "1" microgram per cubic meter as an 8 hour time weighted average. See the latest ruling from OSHA. Is it MIG, flux cored or SMAW that create the most stainless fumes concern? [b] Welding on special stainless steels causes occupational asthma. [c] Manganese welding fume law suit and issues with other alloys and weld fumes. [d] Radioactivity and tungsten TIG electrodes. [e] Galvanized Fumes? [f] Carpal tunnel and MIG guns.

WHEN YOU HAVE HANDS OFF WELD MANAGERS YOU WILL HAVE PURCHASING MANAGERS INVOLVED IN WELD DECISIONS:

Are you looking for low cost welding shields?
We ship our disposal weld helmets direct from China

After spending thousands on repairs of his Chrysler Minivan,
my brother decided to look out side the Big Three
for a more reliable vehicle.

 

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