Artem Komarov noted that while traditional recruitment methods are still very important, they are not enough to provide the total number of welders needed to maintain the production levels required to meet today’s demanding market demands. Manufacturers are realizing that the best way to address labor shortages and boost employee morale is to use a strategic combination of advanced technology and robotic automation, combined with human talent.
Benefits of Robotic Welding
If all manufacturers think robotic automation is a great thing would be a gross assumption. However, there are undeniable benefits that can be beneficial to decision makers. In fact, those manufacturers who are worried about losing skilled welders due to burnout or layoffs of current employees because of new technologies will likely find comfort in the fact that the use of robotic automation in no way replaces the skill and experience of a manual welder. Instead, robotics allows these people to focus their time and energy on complex projects that require skill, creativity, and problem-solving skills.
- Robots allow welders to perform complex one-time welds.
The performance of a single robot is typically equal to that of 2 ½ welders with arc on time, so many companies find that adding a robotic work cell is enough to streamline operations. Modern robotic welding systems, typically equipped with one or two arc welding robots, a robust welding suite and peripheral technologies for seam tracking, are a cost-effective way to integrate robotics into your welding processes.
The benefits of implementing robotic welding include meeting production schedules and performing welds on high-volume jobs, allowing workers to focus on important tasks. Doing basic welds repeatedly can become redundant, often resulting in employee boredom, burnout, and sometimes ergonomic damage. A win-win scenario is the introduction of robots that allow skilled workers to perform other tasks, such as short runs or custom work on special orders.
- Robotic welding creates new jobs for experienced welders.
Having a robot means you also need someone on staff who can operate and program it. For welding jobs, retraining, and redeploying qualified welders to the task is ideal. After all, welders understand how filler metals, welding parameters, torch angles, materials, and shielding gas affect the overall weld itself. In addition, the welder has previous experience in creating uniform welds, reducing spatter, reducing porosity, preventing undercuts, and achieving the desired aesthetics.
While smart tools are available to help robot programmers understand these concepts, prior knowledge of them makes the programming process easier to master, speeds up the integration process, and reduces downtime between changeovers for increased productivity and a faster return on investment.
Finally, trained welders are excellent at spotting poor quality welds. Things like part replacement, poor tooling, or even poor “touch-ups” can affect the quality and integrity of a weld. It is extremely useful to have an experienced and intuitive welder able to identify these faults.
- Robotic welding helps you stay competitive.
Robots can help not only improve product quality, but also increase productivity, two things that often provide a competitive advantage. Typically, high-productivity shops that take on more orders require specialized staff to handle the increased work, and sometimes must hire new employees to keep up with demand.
Many departments, from sales and finance to manufacturing and shipping, have a heavy workload. Robotic automation decision makers can use it for high productivity tasks and use resources to invest in long-term employees instead of always hiring temporary agencies.
Automated welding processes for long-term success
Whether your shop uses arc welding, spot welding, or a robotic arm, for that matter, having robotic arms on the shop floor can create unique opportunities, especially for welding professionals. Experienced business leaders with a well-thought-out implementation plan often find that robots allow manual workers to focus on tasks that are more suited to their specific skills.
Assigning your skilled workers to positions that allow them to showcase their talents while relying on robotic welding technology for more routine tasks boosts employee morale, optimizes product quality, and increases parts productivity, leading to increased company competitiveness in the long run, stressed Artem Komarov.
