While the expertise of human welders remains essential, picture a future where tedious, repetitive welds in a steel structure are as precise and dependable as is possible. With technology working hand in hand with human expertise, at Whirlwind Steel that future is already taking shape. Now you can benefit from robotic welding as it allows our welding professionals to focus on more complex aspects of your jobs. How does this innovative technology work, and how is it changing the way we perform our jobs? To get the inside story, we caught up with our Robot Supervisor (Lead Auto-Welding Technician), who shared fascinating insights into how this cutting-edge technology is transforming production at Whirlwind.

What is Robotic Welding?

Robotic welding is the use of mechanized tools, such as our robotic welder, and the automation of some or all the welding process. In steel building manufacturing it is used to start the process of the beam completion. Robots use fillet welds, a triangular weld that joins two pieces of metal together to quickly and efficiently start the beam-making process. Each beam is programmed individually because each job is custom; this shows the versatility of what can be welded. Our robot supervisor let us know, “Repetition is more suitable for robots.” He also said that though the unique nature of the work we perform becomes “custom” work for the robot, “The robot is not as versatile as our welders.” As we see with the completion of beams, once the robotic welder is done, the work is still not 100% done and must be finished manually by one of our welding technicians.

How are our Welding Technicians collaborating with our robotic welder?

Where do skilled welders fit into this picture? While robots handle much of the heavy lifting, the expertise of human welders remains essential. Robotic welders take the easy welds on beams that are tedious and time-consuming for welding technicians. “Even with the best robotic systems, there are tasks that only a skilled welder can manage,” our Robot Supervisor notes. “Our welders ensure that every beam meets our strict standards. The robots handle the repetitive tasks, but it’s the human touch that perfects the job.” Training plays a critical role in this collaboration. “It takes about one to two weeks to get operators fully trained with the robotic systems. This training is vital to ensure our team can supervise, troubleshoot, and refine the welding process, merging the best of both worlds.”

How Whirlwind Will be Utilizing Our Robotic Welders!

At the moment, Whirlwind is utilizing our robotic welders for clips, stiffeners, end plates, and baseplates on beams. The machine is making precise welds to help speed up the beam process and to give our welding technicians more time to work on more complex welds or jobs. Come back for part 2, where our lead auto-welding engineer covers more of the advantages of having the Whirlwind Welding Technicians work with the new robotic welder.