Written by Ed Craig www.weldreality.com.

Email ecraig@weldreality.com

INTO THE MANUAL WELD WORLD, CAME THE WELDING ROBOTS.

He was a manual MIG welder, the shop is bringing in robots so we are going to have to cut out his "play around" organ.

2000. In today's robot welding world, where few welding supervisors, engineers or mangers are hired for their "weld best practices - process control knowledge", the responsibility for the robot weld quality and productivity is often laid on the back of a very frustrated, over worked robot technician who also has never received weld MIG process control training.

In other plants the management and engineers place the weld process control responsibility on the shoulders of those highly qualified weld process control experts, the electricians and millwrights in the maintenance department.

 

When management does not know what it's doing it frequently places weld responsibility on the wrong shoulders.

WELD SHOPS, RISE ABOVE THE PLAY AROUND MENTALITY.

WHEN IT COMES TO RESOLVING ROBOT WELD PROCESS ISSUES, MANY AUTOMOTIVE PLANTS HAVE FOUND OUT THAT PICKING FIVE GUYS FROM THE WELD OR ROBOT SHOP DOES NOT ALWAYS MAKE AN EFFECTIVE TEAM.


The ratio of engineers to shop floor workers is usually the highest in companies that each day produce high production volumes. In auto / truck corporations and tier one suppliers, engineers are typically in abundance and the majority of the manufacturing issues they are typically struggle with daily are usually found in three process areas, all typically lacking process control expertise;

[1] The weld shop.
[2] The paint shop.
[3] The press shop.

The manufacturing process issues that result daily with the common manufacturing processes in most manufacturing plants, is usually a reflection of the lack of management understanding of the fundamental process / equipment requirements for the implementation of process controls.

THE FRUSTRATED BIG THREE VICE PRESIDENT OF MANUFACTURING SPELLS IT OUT TO JOE, THE TIER ONE PLANT MANUFACTURING MANAGER:

DAM IT JOE. IF YOU CANNOT CONTROL THE ROBOT WELDS WITH THE MILLIONS WE SPENT AND ALL OUR ENGINEERING EXPERTISE, OUT SOURCE THE BLOODY PARTS, OR BETTER STILL SHIP THE ROBOTS AND PARTS DOWN TO MEXICO WHERE WE CAN BURY THE BLOODY WELD ISSUES WITH CHEAP LABOR.

Management Awareness.

At a Volvo heavy equipment manufacturing facility in Asheville, North Carolina, the plant weld manager ran an add in the local paper looking for "skilled welders" to run his welding robots. As I live in Asheville, I phoned the manager and asked why bother looking for or paying for skilled welders, when the robots you purchased are supposed to provide the "welding skills".

The optimization of MIG welding robots will not come from skilled welders who typically lack process control expertise, it will be derived from expert robot programming and robot personnel who have been trained in MIG process controls.

THE MANAGER'S LACK OF AWARENESS OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE WELD PROCESS CONTROLS WILL BE EVIDENT IN THE PLANT'S ROBOT PERSONNEL JOB DESCRIPTIONS.

Arc welding robots bring unique requirements to an industry that for five decades has placed more focus on manual weld skills rather than on weld process expertise.

 

A COMMON DENOMINATOR OF THE GLOBAL MIG WELDING INDUSTRY



Come on you CHICKLETS MIGLETS, we have to
rely on him, after all he is a "salesman".

When the sales based weld advice or the costly pulsed weld equipment bells and whistles do not attain the desired robot weld results, the next step for management is seek advice from the companies who make the weld equipment or consumables that are not working the way they should be.

Once the bovine fecal matter from the power source manufacturers has been spooned out and the results again found to be disappointing, it's not surprising to find the engineers and managers withdrawing from the shop floors to their offices where they start to build a glass wall that will protect themselves from the weld shop. You may know a few of these managers or engineers as they rarely show enthusiasm for process ownership. You may have seen those glass walls as they can be found in the majority of manufacturing facilities throughout the industrial world.

2008: WITH MANY OF TODAY'S MANUFACTURING MANAGERS, THE WELD REWORK - PRODUCTION FAULT IS ALWAYS WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

DAM IT JOE WE HAVE OVER TWO MILLION DOLLARS INVESTED IN THAT ROBOT LINE. WE HAVE SPENT TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND ON TRAINING AND YET THE ROBOT WELD REWORK RATE IS OVER FORTY PERCENT AND OUR PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY STINKS. NOW LOOK ME IN THE EYE AND KEEP TELLING ME THE PROBLEM IS WITH THE PEOPLE ON THE SHOP FLOOR.

With the introduction of robots into a traditional manual manufacturing facility, it's logical to assume the robots would influence the management, engineers and manual work force, or perhaps at least create changes to the existing weld shop culture and environment. It's also logical to assume that the manual weld shop environment, it's culture and practices could negatively influence and contaminate the performance potential of the robots. In this common manufacturing environment, management and engineers will require a unique approach to establish best practices and process controls. Dramatic changes will often have to be implemented and with this in mind, it's not difficult to understand why many managers, engineers and shop floor workers would strive to retain their traditional status quo.

A ship will go round in circles without the leadership of the captain and qualified, "hands on" engineers. Robot optimization requires weld process expertise. If you are a manager or engineer involved in robot weld decisions and have not acquired this process expertise which only requires an eight hour class room training program. I hope you now realize you are the prime cause of the robot of the quality and productivity issues in your plant.

JOE, IT'S TIME FOR A WELD CHANGE:

2008 The last two decade has radically changed the weld shop engineering and "management" requirements yet few managers and engineers have risen to the challenge. In many weld departments, "change" is the most difficult thing to implement. However when robots are moved into the traditional "manual weld shop culture", the weld process control changes required to optimize robot weld production may be radical and will require managers who don't hide behind glass walls.

 

WHEN A WELD DECISION MAKER IS AWARE OF THE WELDING PAST, THEY LEARNS FROM IT.

 

To make meaningful, weld process control changes, one can benefit by examining why the typical past manufacturing weld practices are in most instances simply not effective for robot weld lines. Managers when you walk through your weld shop please remember the following.

SALES INFLUENCE. Managers and engineers responsible for welding need to be aware that the MIG welding industry has been influenced by decades of inappropriate, inaccurate, weld process and product sales advice.

MANAGEMENT PROCESS APATHY. A prime reason that extensive weld process confusion exists in plants that utilize MIG robots is managers often avoid dealing with the root causes of MIG weld process issues.

ENGINEERING PROCESS APATHY. Most engineers including weld engineers responsible for welding robots have minimal "weld process control expertise", these guys too often leave the robot cells to the less qualified robot technicians.

DOUBLE STANDARDS PEOPLE. It's a weld fact that in the MIG welding industry, there is a double standard when it comes to judging welding expertise. Decades of focus on weld skills with minimal focus on weld process expertise, has created a unique industry. After all which other 100 year old industry would allows it's workers to play with it's primary equipment controls?

DOUBLE STANDARDS TOLERANCES. Few mangers have shown concern for the 3 and 6 mm gaps and poor fit that is often part of the manual weld world. Blind robots are less forgiving, yet thanks to common apathetic manufacturing management and engineering standards, the majority of parts that end up in a robot cell, do not meet the design dimensional tolerances.

The Unique, Traditional Weld Shop Culture. As a manager, engineer or primary weld decision maker, you are aware that every manufacturing plant has it's "traditional way of doing things".

Each manufacturing department in the plant will have it's unique pecking order and personnel cliques, after all these department are just a combination of human nature and slow welding evolution. This is the weld department untouched by management for decades. This is the weld department entrenched in manufacturing practices that have changed little since the 1960s. Combine all the above mentioned elements in a copper pot along with self taught, shop floor individuals who are usually strong willed, thick skinned, highly opinionated. In the same pot, combine stuck in a time warp union mentality with two hands of apathetic management. Then slowly mix in a batch of weld process myths and take a big wooden spoon and stir in an overdose of bovine fecal biased, weld sales hype. Finally mix all these together for more than five decades and out pops the unique, MIG weld shop culture that in the twenty first century will keep many managers in a state of exhausted frustration.

Take a trip with me to a USA, auto exhaust manufacturing plant in which the Management and engineers allowed the whole plant to use the MIG Weld process with the Wrong Weld Polarity?

WELD COSTS?

Management controlling weld costs, is worrying less about the cost of the weld wires and gas mixes, and being more concerned and aware about weld process controls and the daily weld deposition rates that should be attained. Ed simplifies weld costs in all his training resources.

 

For weld shops considering the purchase of a robot, at the end of the day it's not about the robots, its about the daily, weld quality - productivity produced

IF THE WELD SHOP MANUAL MIG WELDERS PLAYED AROUND WITH THEIR WELD CONTROLS, WHERE IS THE WELD PROCESS EXPERTISE GOING TO COME FROM TO MAKE THAT DUMB ROBOT PERFORM TO ITS FULL WELD POTENTIAL?

 

Considering a robot purchase? For those job shops that want to do low to medium volume, ever changing steel / stainless robot weld applications, give serious consideration to the following;

[] When you examine each robot manufacture's product don't get caught up with the bells and whistles and fancy electronic pulsed MIG power source with it's 1 billion wave forms. Stay focused on the practical weld capability of the robot cell.

[] When an integrator advises you to use pulsed for that steel application remember the information at this site.

[] Examine the length of time required to both program a common part and especially the time required to make weld changes to different welds.

[] Examine the ease in which weld data wire feed, voltage or pulsed parameter changes are made.

[] Examine the logic layout of the welding program,

[] Examine the calibration accuracy between pendant and power source weld data.

[] Examine the automated TCP capability and repeatability.

[] Examine the ease of making touch sense and through the arc tracking changes. Also carefully examine how effective and consistent these valuable features are.

[] Examine the weld weave program especially the logic of the program.

[] Examine the accuracy and repeatability of the robot with the positioner utilized.

[] Examine the complexity of programming the robot to work with secondary equipment such as the positioner and torch cleaning stations.

[] Don't even consider buying a robot unless it can show that it will attain "100 weld success" with the applications intended.

[] Examine the robot instruction literature, the technical support and service capability, and most important, figure out during your initial discussions with the integrator or equipment reps, who's' supplying the most bovine fecal matter.

REMEMBER THE ROBOT YOU ARE CONSIDERING MAY APPEAR TO WORK WELL IN AN AUTO PLANT WHERE THEY RARELY CHANGE THE WELD PROGRAMS AND THE POOR INCONSISTENT ROBOT WELD QUALITY IS ADDRESSED BY ADDING WORKERS TO THE END OF THE ROBOT LINE TO FIX THE DAILY WELD REWORK. HOWEVER WILL THIS SAME ROBOT MAKE THE GRADE IN A WELD SHOP THAT'S SERIOUS ABOUT WELD QUALITY REPEATABILITY, ROBOT PROGRAMMING EASE OF USE, AND FAST PROGRAMING CAPABILITY.

IF YOU WANT A GREAT COMPARISON OF CONFUSION VERSUS WELD LOGIC, COMPARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A JAPANESE PANASONIC ROBOT AND A SWEDISH ABB ROBOT ARC WELD PROGRAM WITH IT'S PRACTICAL REAL WORLD FEATURES.

MANAGEMENT AND HIGH TECH WORKERS: Instead of managing manual skilled or semi-skilled workers, today weld managers, supervisors and engineers may have to manage robots and lasers along with the high tech individuals that support and set up the complex equipment. With this in mind it's therefore logical that both managers and engineers should give extensive consideration to the engineering - human requirements for optimizing the robot weld quality and productivity.

MANAGERS, consider the "technical expertise" necessary for those shop floor individuals responsible for setting and operating arc welding robots, consider the benefits of effective robot or manual "weld process control training",.

 

Implementing effective robot weld process control changes is typically doomed for disaster if it commences in the maintenance department. The following data will hopefully assist management and engineers in the task of achieving MIG weld process optimization.

 

2004. Pulsed MIG welds made with a Lincoln Power Wave.

This weld was made by a Lincoln power source that can cost up to $12,000.00. I believe this power source was overpriced by at least $10.000.00, however the welds you see are not the fault of the infamous, costly Lincoln pulsed PowerWave. This Ford frame weld simply points to the manufacturing management ignorance at one of North America's leading frame manufactures.

Robot welds like these are common in the auto / truck industry. It's easy to fix weld problems like this, that is if you can find manufacturing managers who are sincere about finding out the real root causes of their daily robot weld process issues. If you are a manager or engineer looking for a no nonsense approach to your welding issues, consider Ed's process control CD power point training resources.

For most plants stuck in a long established weld shop culture, change may be the most difficult thing to implement. Why not use Ed's process control training resources as your catalyst for change. Click here.



FEW ENGINEERING MANAGERS IN THE AUTO INDUSTRY SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THAT ATTAINING OPTIMUM ROBOT WELD QUALITY DOES NOT REQUIRE A BLACK BELT, A WHITE SHIRT WITH AN OSU TIE, OR AN UNDERSTANDING OF CONFUSED JAPANESE MANUFACTURING PRACTICES:


Today, there is a common theme in many manufacturing plants that "if you can control the plant's paper work you can control the manufacturing processes". While there may be a positive, manufacturing attribute attained from ISO, (I have yet to find a practical one) the cost, implementation, complexity, scope and the compliance of ISO conformance, from my perspective robs an organization of valuable engineering resources that could be better utilized. Unfortunately this European driven bureaucratic nightmare in American plants often masks the work of "inexperienced inefficient decision makers" who simply don't have the manufacturing process expertise necessary to implement effective process controls, yet justify their pay through their ability to churn out paperwork.

When it comes to weld process controls, it's the fundamentals such as:

[1]The management capability and involvement in "manufacturing process ownership".

[2] The management's "recognition of an employee's required weld process expertise" and the necessary training required.

[3] The day to day management of weld process controls, that are fundamental tools for attaining consistent, optimum quality robot welds.

 

 

HAVE YOU BEEN IN A WELD SHOP LIKE THIS?:

As you looked around the weld shop you saw no uniformity. There was MIG equipment from Miller, Lincoln, Hobart, Linde and Airco. In the daily quest to find a crutch or magic weld solution to the numerous "manual" weld shop issues, the weld shop manager purchased MIG weld equipment from just about every company that ever made it. When the new MIG welding equipment did not resolve the numerous weld shop issues, these same shops would turn their attention to trying the latest MIG gas or new welding wire.


THE BIGGEST CON GAME IN THE WELD BUSINESS HAS ALWAYS INVOLVED WELD GAS MARKETING.

I should know about MIG gases as I helped write the AWS shielding MIG gas specifications. For several years I attended the AWS gas committee meetings. I always took a king sized shovel which helped me to scrape up the very product biased bovine fecal matter that spewed out of some of the committee, gas marketing managers mouths.

In the welding supermarket you will find approx. 40 MIG gas mixes for welding carbon steels.

From my perspective only three MIG gas mixes are required to provide optimum welds for all carbon, low alloy and stainless steel applications. The frequent, erroneous MIG gas mix marketing statements that for decades spewed forth from the major, industrial gas manufacturers always provided a ray of hope for the inexperienced, frustrated weld department manager, who struggles daily to get his employees to control the 50 year, old two control MIG process.

With the advice of their local gas supplier, many shops will try any new gas mix that comes along. After all the major gas companies must know what they are doing, right? and who can refute the gas weld data presented by the salesman with his glossy new brochures. The weld shops that has a wide variety of useless gas mixes sitting on the weld shop floor will also have a variety of unnecessary MIG and flux cored welding consumables sitting on the shelves. Its not just welding that causes issues, for the shop, when it comes to cutting the steels, few shops understand the real difference between propane, propylene, natural gas or acetylene, and for gods sake don't ask anyone in the for a cost analysis of a 6 mm fillet weld or an oxy fuel cut versus a plasma cut.

 

APATHETIC MANAGEMENT & GLOBAL WELD MANUFACTURING STANDARDS?

For the big three or tier one executives that like to discuss global manufacturing strategy and the implementation of "Global Manufacturing Standards" the following weld reality is likely to exist in their plants. If a USA auto / truck manufacturing company has three sister plants in the same city or state and these plants make similar, steel welded parts, lets say shocks, exhausts or steering products. You can typically guarantee that each plant will weld the same parts using different weld equipment, different weld consumables along with different welding procedures. Of course these manufacturing differences will result in obvious inconsistencies in the welding productivity and quality attained at each plant.

THE WELD INDUSTRY IS A GLOBAL DUMPING GROUND FOR USELESS, COSTLY BELLS / WHISTLES.

I have provided weld process optimization consulting services in thirteen countries and it did not matter if the country was, Canada, Japan, Sweden, Germany, Italy, or the UK, around the globe I found MIG weld process confusion to be the norm. Another thing most of the countries have in common, is most of the large manufacturing companies like to "purchase weld equipment loaded with useless, costly bells and whistles".

In general the management in many large manufacturing companies believe that the purchase of the bells and whistles will compensate for the so called "people weld process issues". It's ironic that the big three corporate executives who do not have the expertise to control the processes in their own plants, talk of their desire for the latest weld technology and the implimentation of "Uniform Global Manufacturing Standards".

 

2000: For almost forty years, life in the welding shop was simple. Fitters and machinist used their expertise for forming and assembling the parts to be welded. Welders played with the controls and used their manual skills to join the parts, and the maintenance department used their skills to repair and maintain the equipment used. From a manufacturing / engineering perspective, the front office engineers working in the weld shop environment were typically involved in part design, establishing weld procedures, purchasing weld equipment, and when solving a weld issue, they may pick up the phone and ask the local sales rep to call at their facility.

Robot weld application ownership has to be a management, design engineering and worker partnership. Today's robot weld reality is that weld ownership is typically controlled by shop floor workers who frequently lack the required process expertise to implement effective, automated weld process controls.

 

2008: "WE DID OUR JOB": The management and engineering team are under the impression they had carried out their weld shop responsibility. After all they approved the budgets for the robot capital expenditures. They then brought the robots into the weld department. Now all the "weld team" had to do, was ensure that each shift produced the desired robot weld productivity and parts that required no weld rework.


To achieve partially acceptable robot welds, many companies would place a "mechanical or electrical engineer in charge of the welding robot weld line and make him this unqualified engineer the "weld team leader". They would then place a skilled welder in the cell to operate a robot that provides the skills. Also to ensure consistent weld quality the highly weld process qualified, maintenance electrician, millwright or robot operator is daily allowed to make the robot welding changes to so called pre-qualified welds. Of course welding responsibility in many automotive plants is affected by unions and their often "out dated seniority clauses" that put the wrong man on the job. It's common in manufacturing facilities to find that the robot operators are allowed to make welding changes which can effect the part integrity and the daily weld production.

 

In many manufacturing plants the unions and management would benefit by reviewing the union agreements from a "weld automation perspective". Unions at one time believed robots to be a key cause of job loss, eventually the unions found out that manufacturing companies that adopted robots were the ones that retained the work and grew.

IT SHOULD BE A NORMAL MANAGEMENT FUNCTION TO CORRECTLY DEFINE, THE ROBOT JOB DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PLANT EMPLOYEES.

I could ask ten plant managers in ten different auto - truck plants to define the following three job descriptions.
[1] the manual MIG welder,
[2] the MIG welding robot operator,
[3] the robot programmer.
I can guarantee that nine out of the ten will either have no job descriptions, or innapropriate job descriptions.

Robot Weld Programmers and Weld Process Control Expertise:

[1] Weld process expertise & the required controls to optimize a robot has never required a person with a university or college degree, it does however require a combination of in-depth robot programming and extensive weld process control expertise. This fundamental message will come as a shock to many Japanese plant managers and HR directors who simply do understand what's required for robot process controls.

Weld Fact: They don't teach what you need to know about robot weld process controls at any college or university in North America". If any technical college or university disagrees with this point, invite me to your facility and in less than one hour with your fourth year weld engineering students and instructors, I will prove otherwise.

[2] Weld process expertise & the required controls to optimize a robot does not require biased, inexperienced weld advice from MIG weld equipment and consumable manufacturers.

[3] Weld process expertise & the required controls to optimize a robot is rarely influenced by the QA department welding personnel. Too frequently the inspectors who are critical of weld quality have never bothered to learn the practical weld process knowledge necessary to provide the welding solutions to their criticism.

[4] Both unions and management would do well to review their robot weld job descriptions. The weld job descriptions in too many plants are typically based on "manual weld practices".

[5] It's simply illogical in 2005 for any manufacturing plant to work under a labor contract that has clauses or labor requirements that will hinder the success of weld automation.

Here's a mouthful for weld team meeting. "The majority of robot weld issues are simply "Management Issues".

 

Weld Best Practices and Process Controls Starts With "Qualified Weld Management".

Unfortunately today, in many manufacturing companies, the management and engineers involved in welding are too frequently insulated from,

[a] the weld shop floor issues and,
[b] the developing shop floor manufacturing technology.

Maybe I am old fashioned, but on a ship, if the captain and officers show little interest in the ships operating equipment, you know the ships crew is going to run the ship their way. In many instances experienced robot programmers can always use more advanced robot program training and all experienced robot programmers would benefit from more weld process expertise.

 

 

OPERATORS: Few operators have a clearly defined job description. These personnel need specific manufacturing instructions, training on evaluating welds and require some process expertise. Operators should be able to understand what a change in weld "arc sounds means" and the resulting weld changes that will occur in the robot cells. Operators must also understand what an acceptable weld looks like and what they have responsibility in the cell for. Operators must also be trained on what they "must not do" to those pre-qualified welds.


DESIGNERS. Its a disgrace that these university trainined guys typically lack the fundamentals on the processes that are used to weld the parts they design. Most designers of robot welded parts would benefit from weld process theory training. Its likely that the designers in your organization do not know the minimum thickness that MIG short circuit transfer can be used on, what an acceptable weld gap dimension is, or why that single pass, MIG fillet weld maximum size is restricted. The designers of automotive / truck parts are rarely aware of their negative influence on weld productivity and quality. All designers would benefit from weld process expertise that allows them to design for welding.

FIXTURE MAKERS: Many fixture makers need to improve communication with the individuals responsible for the part design, the person who provides the robot programming, the maintenance manager and the key robot operator. The group weld discussion would be beneficial in ensuring that fixtures are designed to meet the ergonomic requirements of the robot operators, that the fixtures will not impede optimum robot technique and programming, that the fixtures will be durable and easy to maintain.

WELD TEAM. For effective robot weld process controls, robots should be managed by an "automation weld team". In contrast to many of the weld teams we now see in manufacturing facilities, this would be a team, comprised of an operator rep, the maintenance supervisor, the production supervisor, the robot programmer, and a rep from the quality and engineering and departments. With this team, all the members will have received my best practices - process control training.

Ineffective Weld Management.

 

While employed as a senior weld process engineer with ABB, one of the world's largest suppliers of arc welding robots, I provided "robot weld process training" for many of the top North American, fortune 50 manufacturing companies.

I found it amusing, that frequently automotive managers from GM - Ford and Chrysler and their tier one companies would send robot personnel to the robot programming school, yet many of these individuals could barely read. You would think that innovative manufacturing management, would be aware that few engineers in the auto and truck industry have mastered robot programming requirements, and there is a logical reason for this.

Sending poorly qualified individuals to robot training school may be logical for big three management, however we in the real world are aware that it's is not the management solution for optimizing robot welding production.

Perhaps future managers could be a little more innovative and create for the robot weld production crew a job description that requires the applicants selected to control the welding robots, to at least have the ability to read.

Another Traditional Management Perception:

There is a common perception from some managers that when it comes to MIG welding, the requirements are nothing more than a body, a head, two eyes, two legs and two arms.


Another common management perception, if a costly robot is going to do production welds that were initially produced by hourly paid welders, then the already simple, semi-skilled task of MIG welding should be further simplified by the large investment in the sophisticated, costly equipment.

Perhaps the most ironic point about the common lack of MIG process expertise that prevails in many manufacturing plants, is that the "MIG process" attached to the robot arm has been around for more than five decades.

The following is an important point which will be repeated many times. The majority of manufacturing managers responsible for welding are unaware that their highly skilled welders and weld supervisors who focus on skills have rarely mastered the "MIG weld process theory fundamentals" that encompass process controls and best practices, necessary requirements for any optimum robot weld program.

If you are an individual that does not believe the above statement, ask the most skilled MIG individuals in your plant the following simple weld question.

Manual MIG welding or robot weld optimization, the bottom line is most weld employees need weld process training and managers should provide a process training program that's focused on the utilized MIG wire diameters, and the weld transfer mode parameter requirements". My self teaching process training books can be used in conjunction with my process training video.

The Chrysler multi-million dollar robot weld fiasco.
The following weld disaster was caused by the corporate weld engineer at Chrysler. As is common in the auto / truck industry, this corporate engineer lacked weld process expertise.

A few years ago, a brand new, multi million dollar robot weld line was installed at the main Chrysler stamping plant located near Cleveland OH. The robot line was built to weld Neon cross members. The Chrysler weld engineer had selected from Lincoln Electric, a large diameter, self shielded flux cored electrode to be utilized with robots for welding very the thin, galvanealed, cross member parts which were approx. 2 to 2.5 mm thick.

The 5/64 diameter, flux cored wires selected by the engineers responsible for this gage project required 320 to 380 amps for arc and weld stability. As any high school welder should have known, the weld current required by these large electrodes was simply too much for the 2 mm, gage cross member parts. Typically parts this thin are welded with small diameter MIG wires using 180 to 240 amps. As a result of the excess weld current used with the flux cored wires, there were so many weld holes in the cross member parts that 13 manual welders were required for the weld rework on the robot parts each shift.

The weld smoke from these obnoxious Lincoln flux cored consumables was so bad that even with exhaust units and compressed air masks, the welders could only weld four hours before they had to be relieved.

The cross member weld burn through holes and weld porosity and undercut defects were so numerous that the manual repair welders simply welded over "all the welds" on the parts. As it was impossible to remove the slag from these robot welds, you can imagine the finished weld quality. The exess weld heat from the additional wleds also did not help the mechanical strength of these high strength steels, This robot welding fiasco went on for more than a year, costing the plant approx. $750,000.00 per month for more than 12 months.

A BRIGHT ENGINEERING MANAGER AT CHRYSLER COULD HAVE ASKED;

[1] HOW COULD MY WELD ENGINEER JUSTIFY A WELD CONSUMABLE THAT REQUIRES WELD CURRENT GREATER THAN A PART CAN HANDLE?

[2] HOW COULD MY WELD ENGINEER ALLOW WELD CONSUMABLES IN A PLANT THAT CREATE DANGEROUS FUMES?

[3] HOW COULD MY WELD ENGINEER ALLOW WELD CONSUMABLES ON OUR PARTS AND THEY PROVIDE POOR WELD QUALITY, EXCESS SPATTER AND A TENACIOUS WELD SLAG MAKING QUALITY WELD REPAIRS IMPOSSIBLE?

[4] HOW COULD MY WELD ENGINEER SELECT A WELD CONSUMABLE IN WHICH THE SLAG REMOVAL WAS VERY DIIFICULT THERE FORE THE COATINGS APPLIED OVER THE WELDS / SLAG WOULD HAVE POOR ADHERANCE.

[5] WHY WOULD MY WELD ENGINEER INSIST FOR THIS PLANT AND FOR ALL OTHER PLANTS THAT ARE WELDING GALVANIZED OR GALVANEALED PARTS, THAT THE PLANTS NOW USE THESE SELF SHIELDED FLUX CORED WIRES, WHEN FOR DECADES EVERY OTHER MAJOR AUTO PART MANUFACTURER HAS SUCCESSFULLY USED MIG CONSUMABLES AND ATTAINED BETTER QUALITY - PRODUCTIVITY?

[6] WHY WOULD MY WELD ENGINEER ALLOW "SINGLE PASS" ELECTRODE WIRES TO BE USED FOR THESE TWO WELD PASS APPLICATIONS, (2nd PASS REQUIRED WHEN YOU MAKE REPAIRS). THE EXCESS ALLOYS AND EXCESS WELD HEAT WILL NOT BENEFIT HIGH STRENGTH LOW ALLOY STEELS.

I was requested by the very frustrated Chrysler plant manager to visit his plant and find the solution to his Neon robot weld problem. I welded the parts with a robot using the wire that should have been used, the 0.035 E70S-3 MIG wire. With the MIG in a few hours I was able to produce consistent, optimum weld quality results that would have required minimum weld rework. My galvanealed, MIG welded parts were then tested at a major test facility in Detroit. All the MIG welds met the destructive test mechanical requirements.

In my report which was presented to the corporate Chrysler weld engineer and his engineering peers and mangers, I informed this team that apart from the unacceptable weld gaps on the new parts, the primary root cause of the robot weld issues was the "flux cored consumable type and size selected".
After extensive discussions with the corporate engineering team, the corporate weld engineer would not change his mind on the welding consumables used.

RESPONSIBILITY - ACCOUNTABILITY - OWNERSHIP WERE NOT PART OF THIS CHRYSLER TEAM. I suppose if the Neon team had approved the weld consumable change, it would have indicated where the real root cause and responsibility was for the multi- million dollar fiasco. Shortly after the meeting, due to the extensive weld rework costs that was measured in themillions, the less than two year old, multi-million robot line was shut down. The robots, the application, and the oversized weld wires were moved to Mexico where weld repairs and weld fumes have less consequences for the Detroit management.

 

WHY WOULD A WELD CONSUMABLE MFG RECOMMEND A WELD WIRE THAT ONLY THEY MAKE. THIS IS ONE OF THOSE QUESTIONS THAT PROVIDES IT'S OWN ANSWER. It's a common welding sales tactic by some consumable manufacturers and suppliers to try and promote a weld wire "unique to their company". This consumable when targeted at a plant that buys large amounts of weld wires, ensures no one else can bid on the future plant's consumable business. Lets face it once a consumable gets into an auto / truck plant, its there till chapter 11.

 

E-mail: From England.

Ed. I have just read your Chrysler Neon article regarding the Crosse and self shielded flux cored wire issues. I fully endorse your views and comments. It's a shame that many "welding engineers" in the automotive industry lack the actual knowledge and skills to fulfill this critical role. I myself am a welding engineer for a tier one supplier to the auto industry and see this too often. As a time served boilermaker in the UK, I feel that there is extensive lack of process knowledge and experience with the welding and engineering personnel in the auto industry. I must also thank you for your book 'A Management & Engineering Guide to MIG & the Training' materials both of which we as a company refer to regularly.

Cheers. PL - England

 

In the traditional metal manufacturing environment, which group of skilled trade personnel will play with their equipment controls? Hopefully it does not happen in your machine or press shop. How often do you here the following in a welding shop. "Setting up that new robot application will take a little time, we will have to "play around" with the weld controls for awhile before we find the optimum welding conditions.

For the last five decades, millions of global welding shops, have used MIG to weld carbon steel applications from 20 gage to thick steels. How many more decades have to pass before welders will stop playing with the MIG controls and instantly set the correct welding parameters for the application?

An important Management Step Towards Robot Weld Process Controls.

AS A MANAGER OR ENGINEER, BE AN ACTIVE PARTNER IN PROCESS OWNERSHIP:
Manufacturing shops will benefit when the managers and engineers decide that they should be a partner in the ownership of the core processes and equipment that plays a key role in meeting their daily production needs.

Being an active partner in weld process and equipment ownership, means management recognizes the required process or equipment expertise and ensures the persons responsible for this equipment has the training that provides that expertise.

Note: The individual responsible for the welding decisions should have ability to make rational welding process decisions without the aid or the advice of a salesmen.

With an established 50 year old manufacturing process, you should not require team discussions to resolve manual or robots welding production issues. The person who provides the robot weld data should have the required weld process expertise. If they do not have the necessary process control expertise, the solution is simple.

The majority of welding issues that can occur with a robot MIG weld are discussed on this site, or in my books and training CD's . With process control training comes instant weld process solutions. So rather than have your employees sitting around a conference table chewing the fat, provide them with process training and let the most experienced individual get on with providing the robot or weld resolutions.

Being an active partner in process and equipment ownership means the weld decision makers listens to the workers on the shop floor. However the weld decision maker should have more weld process expertise and therefore should make the final process decisions based on;

[a] the requirements necessary to attain optimum productivity and quality,

[b] decisions that protect the company from a product liability situation.

* Being an active partner in process and equipment ownership means the management and engineers establish Best Weld Practices that reduce weld equipment and consumable costs.

* Being an active partner in process and equipment ownership means the management and engineers are focused on placing "weld process controls" on the shop floor.

* Being an active partner in process and equipment ownership means the managers and engineers will not allow manufacturing double standards in which weld part tolerance discrepancies are not given the same priority as brake press part dimensions.

* Being an active partner in process and equipment ownership means that when a PM program is recommended for the robot cells, it's put in place and strictly adhered to.

* Being an active partner in process and robot ownership means the management will attain for it's employees effective robot programming and MIG process control training. Before you allow a consultant or trainer into your plant, ensure the welding quality and productivity expectations are clearly spelled out. Keep in mind, in most cases your workers already have the necessary skills, yet it's this area of expertise which many trainers or consultants will focus on. Ensure the process training is provided to all personnel involved with the welded parts.

* Being an active partner in process and equipment ownership means the management is aware that for robot programming, that the 5 day training program at a robot companies training facility should be seen only as the introductory training course. Ensure robot training follow up. Provide the training till the programmer believes they have the ability to completely control the robots.

* Being an active partner in process and equipment ownership means the management will not put up with individuals who make weld process changes outside the pre-qualified weld data.

* Being an active partner in process and equipment ownership means, that for the equipment or processes which are critical for an organization, the management will encourage engineers to captain the shop and encourage these individuals to attain equipment and process expertise that is at least compatible with your technicians.

 

KIS. Management & Engineers: The yearly review and job descriptions of engineers who work with robots should clearly encourage engineers to take a pre 1980s approach to manufacturing. Some of you may remember the good old days when engineers dedicated to Keep It Simple (KIS) manufacturing, could be seen "shirt sleeves rolled up" working with the equipment and processes on the shop floor.

 

Question: What does a ship yard and automotive
plant have in common?

In these union dominated industries, the misguided unions frequently discourage engineers from hands on participation with the manufacturing processes used on the shop floor. This was fine in the good old days when manual welding skills meant everything and process expertise meant little.

As the complexity of the manufacturing equipment and environment changes and plants strive to increase their automation efficiency in a highly competitive global industry, engineers should be encouraged to rise up from their desks and to do what they are supposedly trained and hired for. There is only one logical approach to successful manufacturing and that is a working partnership between the skilled workers, technicians, engineers and managers.

Management can benefit by careful evaluation of the qualifications of the personnel responsible for production robot welding. Ensure all personnel that either set up, or operate the high volume production equipment have the capability and aptitude to meet a clearly defined job description for that specific operation.



MANAGEMENT AND EXPERTISE AWARENESS. Management and engineers will benefit once they are aware that there are very different expertise levels between:

The cost of MIG Weld Process Control training, is the price of a good "executive" dinner,

How many companies are prepared to invest a few dollars per supervisor, robot personnel or welder, for a training program designed to optimize both the manual or robot welding quality and productivity in their organization?

I had my MIG process training book translated to Spanish, believing it would be a great tool for the Mexican workers who are paid a few dollars a a day to control the costly European and Japanese robots welding the North American auto / truck parts. What I did not figure on was the management apathy in these plants. Managers who have no problem spending millions on robots lines have to think twice before they spend a few dollars purchasing books for their workers.

 

Remember Keep Smiling, it's all good...