Like many industries, the welding and metal fabrication industry has a skills and labour shortage challenge. While production demands remain high, it has become difficult to find skilled welders, and keep up with demand.
The skilled trade worker shortage is compounded by an aging welding workforce in Australia with Geoff Crittenden, CEO of Weld Australia, indicating that approximately 30% of Australia's existing welding workforce are aged over 45 years. [1] This has resulted in job positions relating to welding becoming increasingly difficult to fill, particularly in the face of projected increased demand, there is a significant shortage in the skilled welding labour market. The number of new apprentices and those learning the trade simply aren’t enough to fill the gaps.
Welding automation can help you address the difficulties in sourcing skilled labour. While automation isn’t an all-encompassing solution, it is helping to bridge the gap between the welders needed by the industry and the number of qualified welders available.
From automotive to automation
Welding Automation was initially born from the automotive industry and has steadily become more common in heavy industry and manufacturing. These industries significantly benefit from a diverse range of equipment, software, and devices that can help automate the welding processes, for a variety of interrelated reasons: to reduce safety hazards, increase productivity, provide greater repeatability, reduce cycle times, improve quality yet.
It is also a way to address the shortage of qualified welders. Investing in automation provides a great ROI for businesses looking to increase capacity, production levels and profitability and ultimately move your business forward.
Benefits for businesses of all sizes – redefining skilled labour
Automation is a practical solution to redefine skilled labour in welding. Automation has become a reality in many industries, especially in the manufacturing process. It helps with levels of production, consistency in weld quality and time.
Automation and robotic technology can increase production with fewer workers and create a competitive advantage.
Automated welding solutions are not one size fits all, with different types of welding automation systems designed to meet a range of needs. For some businesses, implementing welding automation might be a multi-step, multi-purchase process, or an automated device used for one specific area of the business such as Orbital Welding.
It’s also important to match automation solutions to growth needs of your business.
A practical solution
Introducing automation to your workshop is a practical solution that is now redefining skilled labour.
While automation does not replace workers in their entirety, it makes work more efficient and easier, supplementing skilled welders. Automation and Cobots can help fill gaps in p roduction by performing the welds on straightforward or repeatable parts, saving the skilled welders for the more complex weld sequences. This means repetitive welding operations can be performed by robotic automation, freeing up highly skilled welding professionals to perform more challenging and intricate tasks.
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[1] Rouski, Anu. “Global welder shortage – viewpoints from three continents.” Welding Value, 5 November 2020, www.weldingvalue.com/2020/11/global-welder-shortage-viewpoints-three-continents
