Seeing Is Believing: The Future of Welder Training

In addition to streamlining competency screening throughout the hiring process, another benefit of this system involves replication, its ability to capture the welding technique of a master welder in real time and then incorporate “signature welds” into a training curriculum. Here’s why: “One thing we know for sure in the welding industry,” states Hakerburn. “Going forward, thousands of master welders are and will be retiring.”

Manitowoc’s Employee Training Program Gets a Lift
Meet the Grove GMK5275, one of Manitowoc’s high capacity all-terrain mobile telescopic cranes. This incredible piece of equipment rolls on five axles and can lift 275 US tons without breaking a sweat as just one of the class-leading hydraulic cranes from Manitowoc’s Grove brand, a leader in the industry for more than 65 years.

Grove spent decades perfecting the design and manufacture of these machines. Delivering on their promise to build cranes that are reliable, versatile – and above all, strong – is a team of 450 welders that lay down thousands of perfect welds each week.

When it comes to welding, practice makes perfect. You’ve got to burn to learn, so Grove was looking for a cost-effective way to teach, train and evaluate the welding skills of those tasked with building their 275 ton capacity cranes.

According to Jake Sensinger, the manager of weld process engineering at Manitowoc’s Shady Grove factory, the RealWeld Trainer system was incorporated into operations in July 2012 and since then, two machines at the company’s Pennsylvania facility have provided advantages in customization, material cost savings, and faster, more individualized training.

“With our previous program, in the initial two weeks we would teach welding procedures and then the employees would acquire their AWS certification. Then they’d move to shop floor to build the actual product, depending on the learning curve of the individual. Now with this new system, some employees have been able to train faster — and we’re seeing more accuracy and efficiency from these welders.”

Sensinger says he appreciates the system’s flexibility and focus on repeatability, and the option to score practice welds. “The system allows us to score users on both the live welding side and the virtual side,” he explains. “This means we don’t have to use up consumables such as material, gas, wire, tips and nozzles unless it’s necessary. Employees can practice with the arc off, which helps us reduce scrap and save money.”

Manitowoc anticipated these benefits, however, Sensinger says the system has completely changed the way they look at their training program. “There is so much more we can do with the RealWeld Trainer. This is going to have a tremendous impact on how we put our curriculum together going forward.”

Forquer’s conversations with manufacturers echo the same concern. “I talk with fabricators who say, “We don’t have a strong training program, but we have this brilliant master welder. If we could just replicate what he does.”” When he hears concerns like this, Forquer knows another RealWeld Trainer has found a home.

Out of the crate, the system comes pre-loaded with nine Welding Procedure Specifications (WPS) that support Flat, Horizontal, Vertical, Fillet, Lap, and Groove combinations for shielded metal arc, gas metal arc, and flux-cored arc welding. WPS thresholds and parameters can be modified, added or deleted, providing instructors with a powerful tool to create and manage curriculum-based training.

Forquer believes that this feature, along with the other benefits in productivity, makes this machine a “no-brainer upgrade” that will be a true game-changer for the industry. “The adage for producing good welders is practice, practice, practice,” he says. “With this system we’re providing immediate, objective, data-driven live feedback so companies can produce great welders who are ready to work.”

Praxair is currently working with EWI to bring this innovative live-arc welding trainer to large metal fabricators and medium-to-large welding shops across the country as an ideal tool for the training, retraining and skills evaluation for large welding shops.

This system has also been designed for post-secondary technical schools looking to build upon or expand their welding training curriculums. Because the RealWeld Trainer fits into a typical welding booth, it is an ideal solution for any training facility that is already pressed for space.

EWI, 1250 Arthur E. Adams Drive, Columbus, OH 43221-3585, 614-688-5000, Fax: 614-688-5001, www.ewi.org.

Praxair, Inc., 39 Old Ridgebury Road, Danbury, CT 06810-5113, 716-879-4077, Fax: 716-879-2040, [email protected], www.praxair.com.