Certified Welding
Supervisor Program
Is your organization
interested in finding ways to increase welding productivity while
improving and maintaining acceptable weld quality? Welding Supervisors
can make a valuable contribution to the four most important metrics in
welding operations: quality, cost, productivity and safety. Yet, the
position of welding supervisor is often an overlooked resource.
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 in
order to increase productivity and improve weld quality.
And, 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.
The standard that governs AWS
certification of Welding Supervisors is AWS QC13:2006, Specification for the Certification of
Welding Supervisors. A copy of this specification may be viewed
and downloaded free from this link click here. The
standard that covers
the qualification requirements is AWS B5.9:2006, Specification for the Qualification of
Welding Supervisors. Also available is the AWS Study Guide for
Certification of Certified Welding Supervisors. The latter two
documents may be purchased at the AWS Publications website at
http://www.awspubs.com/.
Order Now!
The following
documents
are available for the CWS Program:
Certified Welding
Supervisor Exam Application
Certified Welding
Supervisor Brochure (includes information from this web site, as well
as a registration form for the seminar.)
Did you know...
AWS, along with the National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP),
released a final
report on the advantages of training welding supervisors and its effect
on production costs efficiency. The research was supported through a
trial project at a shipyard in 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 potential savings
of the program totaled $2 million annually.
On a multiple-ship
order, the typical improvement in efficiency averaged 200-300 hours
when a module is repeated. After the Welding Supervisor training, the
first repeated module was done with 600 fewer labor hours; the second
showed 1,000 fewer labor hours.
Operational goals for
achievement and their estimated savings:
Reduce weld metal
volume Estimated Potential Savings: $3,319 per welder
Reduce arc time per
weldment Estimated Potential Savings: $4,280 per welder
Reduce rework and
scrap Estimated Potential Savings: $3,244
Reduce work effort
and motion and delay time Estimated Potential Savings: $6,200
*National Shipbuilding
Research Program
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.
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. 475.
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 projects final report Welding
Supervisor Training and
Certification.