Page 37 - MetalForming December 2014

The quantifiable and dramatic improvements in MetalCraft Marine’s overall operation were almost imme- diate, says Allen.
“The new equipment, and the con- sulting advice that came with it, has enabled us to improve our aluminum- welding efficiency by 20 percent,” he says. “That’s a 20-percent reduction in the time it takes to build a boat. As a result, the new equipment paid for itself in less than one year. We’re expe- riencing less rework, better weld appearance, fewer quality inspections and improved efficiencies. While our welders used to spend a lot of time changing the parameters on the old power supplies just to make things work, now they have the right tools to do the job.”
Other Opportunities
The MetalCraft Marine story doesn’t end with the installation of the Power Wave machines, new wire feeders and a change in weld wires; Allen continues
to seek ways to improve productivity and efficiency. One option he’s con- sidering is Lincoln Electric’s advanced module for the Power Wave that adds gas-tungsten-arc welding (GTAW ), AC GTAW and high-frequency GTAW capa- bilities to the machines.
“We think that has some real poten- tial,” he says. “We don’t need a GTAW machine full-time, but every welding team—which consists of four or five welding machines—at some point needs to perform some GTA welding. Adding that module could provide a big benefit by giving us flexibility with- out requiring a huge investment.”
Allen also has invested to improve the air quality in the 10,000-sq.-ft. man- ufacturing plant. While he first con- sidered a solution requiring pushing fresh air through the top of the plant and collecting particulate from the bot- tom, he discovered that the airflow would not have been very manageable.
“Lincoln Electric’s environmental specialist then explained to us why we
needed to go with a filtration system that’s up in the ceiling and pushes air from one side while pulling particu- late from the other,” Allen says. “We’re really happy with the resulting air-fil- tration system that we developed with Lincoln.”
Investing in Workers
In addition to improving efficien- cy, productivity and environmental safety, MetalCraft Marine’s ongoing relationship with Lincoln Electric has opened up training opportunities for new hires that might lack the necessary experience to weld aluminum hulls.
“We set up a training program, and the feedback we get is that the new welding equipment is relatively easy to use,” says Allen. “We have good pro- cedures identified in preset user mem- ories, so that a welder just has to press a button or two and he’s ready to weld.”
MF
Article provided by Lincoln Electric Co., www.lincolnelectric.com.
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