Page 36 - MetalForming December 2014

MetalCraft Marine Charts a Course
to improve productivity and realize energy savings.
“We had been using the same weld- ing equipment for 15 to 20 years, and our processes were not very automat- ed,” says Allen. “The idea of acquiring welding equipment with some built-in intelligence was new to us, and we didn’t really know what to expect.
“In addition to improving produc- tion efficiencies and reducing energy costs,” Allen continues, “adherence to quality standards in the midst of updat- ing equipment and processes was a big concern. We already had estab- lished an industry-leading 10-yr. war- ranty on hull seams, and we were com- mitted to maintaining that warranty. We had to ensure, with the transition to new welding equipment, that we did not fall behind in terms of quality. That meant we had to take care to define the right welding procedures in terms of travel speed and other parameters so that the quality of the work did not suffer.”
In addition, because of the age of the previous welding equipment, the need for maintenance, repairs and prop- er calibration had become increasingly frequent, and replacement parts were getting difficult to find. Also, the older welding machines were large and heavy, and often got in the way of operations.
Energy consumption also was pro- hibitive to the company’s overall work- flow. The old machines drew a full 30 A, limiting the shop to running only four machines at a time. “That’s enough for one of our welding teams, and we use one team per boat,” says Allen. “That meant we could only weld one boat at atime,ortwoatatimeataslower pace. This combined with the fre- quency of equipment breakdowns often put us behind schedule.”
New Technology a Lifesaver
To the weld shop’s rescue came new arc-welding power supplies and wire feeders—Power Wave S350 power sources and Power Feed 25M wire feed- ers from Lincoln Electric. Together the combination has dramatically improved energy efficiency at the Kingston facil-
MetalCraft Marine welders use Power Wave S350 power sources and Power Feed 25M wire feeders from Lincoln Electric to assemble frames (above) and hull sections. The new welding equipment has dramatically improved energy efficiency, and allowed MetalCraft to run as many as eight machines at a time rather than just four with its pre- vious welding equipment.
ity, enough for MetalCraft to run eight machines at a time rather than just four.
“By running eight machines,” says Allen, “each of which draw only 8 to 12A most of the time, we have doubled our daily welding output, and even tripled it in some cases.”
But more than just an infusion of new equipment, the welding-produc- tivity solution at MetalCraft also includ- ed technical welding support and onsite education.
“Lincoln spent a great deal of time with us, specifying exactly what we needed,” says Allen. “And then, when we brought the equipment on board Lincoln representatives spent four or five months returning periodically to work with our welders and bring them
up to speed. They also helped us rede- fine our welding procedures to take full advantage of the new and more advanced equipment.”
With the Power Wave machines up and running, MetalCraft Marine then took the next step toward optimizing its welding performance by making a change in weld wires. The new wire on board: Lincoln’s SuperGlaze 5356 alu- minum gas-metal-arc-welding (GMAW ) wire.
“When it comes to weld wire, I’m looking for consistency day in and day out,” says Allen. “With SuperGlaze, our welders appreciate how it comes off of the spool properly. And, we avoid any problems with porosity or any of the other issues typically associated with poor weld-wire quality.”
34 MetalForming/December 2014
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