By Lawrence
Date 04-03-2014 14:38
Edited 04-03-2014 14:40
Funny Scott... I am going 180 degrees different from you in paradigm.
We can weld any structural steel from 1/8" to unlimited thickness in the flat or horizontal position, groove, fillet, corner.... Girt, base plates, clips, stiffners, rafters... whatever........ All can be done by locking down the solid wire GMAW-sp/pulsed power supplies and giving the operators 20 ipm and 1.5 volts to play with... Nothing more!
I reduced electrode wire usage in one plant by 50% in 30 days using this method.
The welders fought like trapped bobcats when the controls were set in place... Until they actually saw that they were changing spools 50% less........ They didn't like it, but they believed/trusted me after that.
Also also, WPS parameters I often find provide ranges that far exceed what is actually needed to make the required welds. This is especially true when PQR's are involved... A "typical" engineer will generate a WPS with the full ranges *allowed* by the PQR and "trust" the welders to move forward with their dark art... Rather than producing tight ranges and listening to feedback from the floor and tweak as if they were subroutines.......
If we were bending, machining, painting, roll forming or drawing with dies, the operators would not be given space to do their thing. They would be controlled.
The settings "shall" work for the welder!