By d-on
Date 09-25-2007 13:33
Your local welding supply houses will be a little help but they can get you in contact with their suppliers such as Miller, Hobart, ESAB and Lincoln. These companies are very concerned with the shortages of welders and can do some things to help. The local guy can do more for you than the supply house can, he/she also have many people who specialize in different aspects of welding who can help from time to time. All of the major welding companies are great resources for technical support and they are willing to help, it goes to the future of welding and a consumer base. The expectation is that you would do ALOT of work and they could help. They are also very good at publicizing the effort to help with visual exposure. Another source of interest would be your local businesses that employ welders. So develop a plan work with the welding "experts" and present your idea to businesses. Many will see the opportunity to get better training for their employees. You will need to show them what the cost would be and the return on their investment, this information is not hard to pull together. I have recently developed a training program in a company for welders, the idea took alot of time to grow in the minds of management but once we showed the level of quality and the reduction in repairs and warranty work we couldn't get it done fast enough. Then they wanted the same type of thing for the machinist, assembly people and all through the company. We trained 6 welders at a time and to set it all up in a corner of the plant was around 60k. The response from the welders was chilly at best starting out but once the first class went through and they told the others it wasn't hard to get them excited. It has been one of the best experiences in my professional career. So I say go for it! You can see the need and have a desire to fill the need and that will add up to success.
Hi pipewelder1999,
I am in Sierra Leone where skilled labor is very scarce. Mining is one of the major activities and for short of skilled labor, foreign welders and plumbers are all what we have. I am interested in setting up a welding school to be able to provide locals to the mines. I am a mechanical engineer but see this as an entrepreneurial opportunity. Can you help me with setting up?