AWS Certified Welding Supervisor
Certified Welding Supervisor Program

Save up to $17,000 per welder per year
  • Increase quality and productivity
  • Reduce welding costs
  • Maximize profitability

Why get certified as a Welding Supervisor (CWS)? It’s simple: Welding supervisors can make a valuable contribution to the four most important metrics in welding operations: quality, cost, productivity and safety. According to a final report on Welding Supervisor Training and Certification, CWS helps reduce welding costs, helps increase productivity and profitability, and helps make a company more competitive.

Often the underlying cause of a supervisor’s inability to improve productivity can be traced to inadequate knowledge and the minimal amount of time that a supervisor actually spends with welders. The AWS Certified Welding Supervisor program was created to rectify these conditions by offering welding supervisors and their companies the opportunity to put the welding supervisor in a support position for the welders, making them the most productive and best they can be. This innovative program identifies a body of knowledge all welding supervisors should know and understand to increase productivity and improve weld quality.

You don’t have to be a welding supervisor to benefit from attending the five-day seminar. The curriculum has been designed to benefit others in your company, such as those involved in management, engineering, design, and purchasing.

If you work in the field of welding:
 If you make decisions about employees responsible for welding supervision:
Make the smart decision to become an AWS Certified Welding Supervisor. Certification can mean better pay, more job security, and the proof that your skills and knowledge label you as one of the industry’s elite.

Becoming certified means passing tests that require a high degree of knowledge and top-notch skills.

The AWS Certified Welding Supervisor seminar delivers knowledge and value.

If you have little time to study, like most everyone else, then AWS has the answer. We offer a five-day intensive seminar that will help prepare you to pass the AWS Welding Supervisor certification test. Our experienced instructors will help you learn the material you need to know fast, and show you how to use and understand the latest standards.

The AWS Certified Welding Supervisor seminar is an excellent value. The price includes a complete prep course taught by veteran instructors, refreshments and lunch, AWS membership (for nonmembers), subscriptions to the Welding Journal and Inspection Trends, and reference books. You save time and money, too, because we supply many of the books you need (a $300 value).

AWS Certified Welding Supervisor seminar weeks are offered in various locations across the country. By grouping the seminar with the test, you can attend both with less time off from the job and less travel expense.


 When you hire an AWS Certified Welding Supervisor, you are getting one of the most highly qualified individuals in the business.
AWS Welding Supervisor certification helps your company minimize costs and increase profitability.

In business, time is money —
your money.

At AWS, we recognize that time is valuable. AWS Certified Welding Supervisor seminars save your company time and money on training and testing. We also want to make it easy on your bottom line by offering the seminar (pre-exam course) and the certification exam in the same city. Or, your employee can take the exam at a later date in another city that may be more convenient for your company.

In-house/on-site training.

If you are training groups of six or more, AWS offers in-house/on-site training as a cost-effective option. We’ll bring in our expert instructors to train your team at your facility. Training can also be customized to meet your specific needs for increasing welding productivity and improving weld quality. Call 800-443-9353, ext 229 for more information.

Take the guesswork out of hiring someone qualified.

AWS Certified Welding Supervisors can improve quality, increase productivity, and give your company a unique advantage. Those in the industry who qualify will be highly regarded and sought after throughout the welding industry, because their certification attests to a documented level of skill and expertise.


Program Forms and Document Downloads
CWS Exam Program
 CWS Renewal Program

Technical Documents
QC13: 2006, Specification for the Certification of Welding Supervisors
B5.9: 2006, Specification for the Qualification of Welding Supervisors


Reality Check!


Take 500 linear feet of 3/16 inch fillet weld that your company has to weld.

Welder A delivers a 3/16-inch fillet weld at the WPS-specified 250 amps. Welder A uses 35 lbs. of filler metal, gets the job done in eight hours and the total cost for this weld, labor included, is $380.

Welder B welds at only 225 amps and oversizes the weld by 1/16 inch. He deposits 27 lbs. more filler metal and takes 13 extra hours to make the weld. The direct cost for 500 feet of weld with Welder B is $988.

Welder C welds at only 180 amps and oversizes the weld by 1/8 inch. He deposits 63 pounds more filler metal than Welder A and takes more than 70 extra hours to make the weld. The direct cost for Welder C to make the same weld is almost $3600.

There are lots of reasons why this is a real world situation. Which welder do you have working for you?

The AWS Certified Welding Supervisor will be trained to recognize these problems and work with welders to gain the maximum productivity out of this and other aspects of the welding fabrication process. Read on to learn how you can deliver more profits to your bottom line with this exciting AWS program.


About the Seminar | Body of Knowledge | Program Fees | Seminar/Exam Schedule | Seminar FAQs | Exam Qualification FAQs | Applying for Certification FAQs | Taking the Exam FAQs | Cancellations & Refunds | Reference Materials | Testimonials
For information call
800-443-9353, ext. 273.
Final Report - Welding Supervisor Training and Certification
(NSRP Study)
AWS, along with the National  Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP), conducted a study on the advantages of training welding supervisors and its effect on porduction costs and efficiency. The research was supported through a trial project at Bender Shipbuilding and Repair Company in Mobile, Alabama. The results of the trial program are clear. Projected costs per welder were reduced by $17,000 annually. Labor hours on successive modular construction sequences were actually reduced by 1,000 hours per module. The formal results have been presented to the NSRP SP-7 Welding Panel and are available now in pdf format. Download  the project's final report, Welding Supervisor Training and Certification.


Reasons you'll also want your company to take advantage of the AWS Certified Welding Fabricator program:

Just as the Certified Welding Supervisor program was created in response to industry demand, the AWS has also established a certification for welding fabricators based on industry demand. This certification requires a company to comply with welding-related functions and verifies through a third-party assessment verifies that the welding fabricator has the required personnel, organization, experience, procedures, knowledge, equipment, capability, and commitment

Bundled together, these two programs can provide an excellent productivity and quality enhancement package. For more information on the Certified Welding Fabricator Program call 800-443-9353, ext. 448.