Airgas’ Sustainable Welding Innovations Improve Quality, Productivity and Efficiency

Innovations in welding and cutting are opening new avenues, new markets and new uses in the metal fabrication sector. And technology is rapidly evolving thanks to automation and cobots, as examples. At the same time, older technologies are being upgraded and retrofitted so fabrication shops remain competitive.

“Customers are looking to bend towards new ways of working that can overcome supply chain uncertainties and flex their operations to meet capacity and quality requirements, project by project,” noted Matt Williams, vice president of advanced fabrication markets-business development for Airgas. Airgas, based in Radnor, Pa., is an Air Liquide company.

“With the ongoing skilled labor shortage, it’s also important to offer solutions that are attracting a new generation of workers,” Williams continued. “In fact, the American Welding Society projects that 330,000 new welding professionals will be needed by 2028. Having a flexible mindset helps people take on new ways of working and bring new team members or technologies on board.”

As such, Airgas continues to provide metal fabricators with new gas, automation and advanced fabrication products, which includes support and service to customers’ existing equipment, helping with preventative maintenance, emergency repairs, planned relocations and retrofitting projects to keep machines running and productivity high. “While we strive to put as many talented workers as possible in jobs within manufacturing, we also enable customers to do more with less, at higher quality and shorter lead times,” Williams noted.

For example, the BotX™ cobot welding system, jointly developed by Red-D-Arc and Airgas, simplifies and streamlines welding operations. The user-friendly system allows businesses to integrate the technology seamlessly into their existing workflows, which leads to significant productivity gains. BotX addresses the skilled labor shortage by enabling companies to acquire easy-to-use automated welding through short or long-term rental, lease or purchase programs. This model allows customers to quickly scale up — or down — their production capacity to align with current business needs, with no capital investment.

Both Airgas and Red-D-Arc offer training, ensuring new users can quickly master setup and welding of even complex parts. Welding specialists offer fast virtual support and trained technicians are also on standby for on-site assistance nationwide, providing a swift resolution to any equipment issues. Red-D-Arc is a subsidiary of Airgas.

For one company, BotX enabled it to increase productivity by a third and eliminate hidden costs, based on a trio of solutions from Airgas. Another company went from producing 100 parts a day to producing 300 parts a day, eliminating workforce challenges and weld consistency problems, while at the same time controlling costs.

Williams is quick to point out that while these advancements empower fabricators to tackle their challenges and thrive, the tools are meant to enhance, not replace, human expertise and oversight.

Williams also noted Airgas’ innovative retrofitting process, which maintains and upgrades older plasma equipment, resulting in reduced downtime, greater accuracy in part production, reduced welding inefficiencies and increased productivity, especially in the face of supply-chain related pressures. “Airgas can provide multiple plasma and software upgrades, such as bolt ready holes, IOT technology, EtherCAT drive capability, bevel technology, nesting productivity, onboard CAD and more,” Williams said.

Easily Determine the Correct Shielding Gas Mixture out of Hundreds of Possibilities

Williams noted that when it comes to selecting gases, selecting the correct gas mix and composition can make a difference in factors like weld quality, spatter levels, fusion, fume generation and more. “Choosing the correct shielding gas for your desired application has an effect on all of that, most importantly on the quality,” he noted. “There are hundreds and hundreds of shielding gas mixtures to choose from so selecting the right one can be very confusing for the end users. Fortunately, Airgas and Air Liquide have significantly simplified the process through our ARCAL™ line of gases.”

Years ago, Air Liquide conducted a study and found that 85% of all of the welding could be done well with five different gas mixtures: argon; 2% CO2 balance argon; 8% CO2 balance argon; 18% CO2 balance argon; and 25% CO2 balance argon. These five gases comprise Airgas’ ARCAL Reference line of shielding gases. For the remaining 15% of the welding, Airgas determined this could be done well with 10 different mixes which comprise the ARCAL Technical line of shielding gases.

The ARCAL gas cylinders are equipped with SMARTOP™and EXELTOP™ cylinder valve technology, which are easy to use, clearly marked on/off levers, with at-a-glance pressure gauges and a permanent protective safety top, which protects the valve at all times, lowering the risk for injuries and regulatory non-compliance. The ARCAL product combines ease of use with the highest quality shielding gas to make a truly innovative package for our customers,” Williams noted.

Airgas offers several product categories to support the metal fabrication industry:

• Gases: shielding gases for welding such as argon, helium and carbon dioxide.
• Gas equipment such as air/fuel torches, tips, oxyfuel equipment, regulators, support and maintenance and more.
• Welding products such as filler metals, welders and accessories and support equipment.
• Safety products including head, eye and face protection, hearing protection, respiratory protection, gloves, footwear, clothing, monitors and calibration equipment and more.
• Tools and hardware such as abrasives, grinding and cutoff wheels, power tools, brushes, machine tools and more.

Metal fabrication sectors served by Airgas include plasma and laser cutting, welding and welding automation, heat treatment, additive manufacturing and welding and cutting resources. At FABTECH 2024, Airgas featured an expanded offering of RADNOR plasma cutting tables and a broader range of cobot options, including the BotX XSR Cobot Welding System, the latest model from Red-D-Arc, which features new welding processes and works without cloud connectivity.

Airgas also supports other industries, including: aerospace and defense, beverage and food, construction, energy and chemical, governments, health care and life sciences.

Customer Driven and Focused

“In my role, I listen to the needs of our external customers who are part of the metal fabrication community, as well as the Airgas regions from a business and training perspective,” Williams noted. “In response, my team develops training opportunities, customizes programs and refines our product and service offers. For example, our Advanced Fabrication team focuses on impactful ways to improve a customer’s fabrication processes so they consume less, produce more, and oftentimes do not have to add labor to accomplish the task at hand.”

Airgas maintains 10 advanced fabrication application centers, and has more than 90 advanced fabrication experts on staff. The company also has an extensive database of Welding Performance Indicators (WPI) that help provide direction on potential areas for improvement in a weld shop. As one of the industry-leading suppliers to metal fabrication shops nationwide, Airgas has worked with thousands of customers to provide gases, welding and safety products, as well as process expertise.

Through Airgas’ Unlocking the Hidden Cost of Welding™ program, experts find production efficiencies and cost savings within operations in order to achieve your goals and become more competitive. The program assists in answering questions such as: is your process as efficient as it could be; are you producing the quality that your customers expect; and is there an opportunity to produce more and spend less on welding costs?

Airgas experts are also invested in assisting your metal fabrication operation in achieving a cleaner, more sustainable operation through cutting, welding, additive manufacturing and heat treatment process solutions that reduce emissions.

The company also deploys energy efficient processes and lower carbon footprint products to help reach sustainability goals. For example, Airgas offers supply modes designed to help decrease carbon footprints, including the ECO ORIGIN™ certified low-carbon bulk liquid argon, nitrogen and oxygen, and FLOXAL™ on-site gas generation. Because your gas needs can fluctuate, FLOXAL ensures continuous and consistent gaseous volumes of nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen that can be adapted to your unique usage needs. These two choices may help reduce your shop’s Scope 3 CO2 emissions.

Williams noted Airgas continually innovates to assist customers in staying safe, productive and meeting their sustainability goals. “From offering innovative equipment and products in automation, welding, cutting and low-carbon bulk gases, to producing safety PPE that ensures size inclusivity for all people, we strive to help our customers meet their needs, especially in a time of evolving technology,” Williams concluded.

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Airgas: A Strong Reputation, Culture and Operational Infrastructure

Airgas offers a wide range of product lines for a variety of industries. The company is a leading U.S. supplier of industrial, medical and specialty gases, as well as hardgoods and related products. In fact, Airgas is one of the largest U.S. suppliers of safety products, and a leading U.S. supplier of ammonia products and process chemicals.

Dedicated to improving the performance of its more than 1 million customers, Airgas safely and reliably provides products, services and expertise through its more than 18,000 associates, more than 1,400 locations, a robust eBusiness platform, and the Airgas Total Access® telesales channel.

As an Air Liquide company, a world leader in gases, technology and services for industry and health, Airgas offers customers an unrivaled global footprint and industry leading technology and innovations.

“Through the Air Liquide acquisition in 2016, Airgas benefited from Air Liquide’s strengths in innovation and research and development, both of which have positively impacted the products and services we provide to customers,” noted Matt Williams, vice president of advanced fabrication markets-business development for Airgas. “Adding Air Liquide’s U.S. bulk production and distribution into the mix also allowed Airgas to reach and serve more customers more efficiently and directly.”

Williams added that Airgas and Air Liquide have brought together two very complementary businesses and ultimately have made both companies stronger.

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Cobot Welding Leads to Transformation and Improves Processes

When MWI Pumps of Deerfield Beach, Fla., was looking for a robotic welding solution to support its production demands, the company considered multiple options, and ultimately decided to give the BotX cobot welding system from Red-D-Arc a try. Red-D-Arc is a subsidiary of Airgas.

MWI Pumps is an industrial water pump manufacturer specializing in manufacturing high-efficiency water pumps, serving global clients in diverse applications. On the day that MWI Pumps’ BotX was being installed, Red-D-Arc brought along a member of the Airgas Advanced Fabrication team to visit the company’s site. That meeting resulted in a much deeper collaboration between the teams from Red-D-Arc, Airgas, and MWI Pumps — one that has offered additional products and services which have delivered tremendous value to MWI Pumps’ operations.

For example, MWI Pumps estimated it has seen a 33% increase in productivity and saved 446 hours in manufacturing time on 128 water tanks, which equates to nearly 3.5 hours per tank, noted Kris Rahall, application engineer/welding supervisor for MWI Pumps.

By utilizing the BotX, the company has also benefitted from improved weld quality, which has resulted in fewer repairs and less rework. The partnership has proven its value. “The support I’ve received from Red-D-Arc and Airgas — they’re here whenever we need them to be,” said Daren Eller, vice president, MWI Pumps. “Once you realize their expertise and the knowledge that they have, and they’re there to help, there shouldn’t be any hesitation at all.”

Source: www.Red-D-Arc.com

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