AWS TWM pdf free download

AWS TWM pdf free download.Total Welding Management .
My challenge was to work with top managers and show them that welding was not solely an art but a combination of science and art. It could be managed but needed their understanding and leadership. Engineering and welding skills were out of balance in many companies. Welding had to be brought under more engineering control. There had to be more of an engineered science approach to welding.
Company owners or presidents would often spend $100,000 on a machining center to reduce a part cycle time by 5%. The same executives, however, would be reluctant to spend a few thousand dollars to improve their welding operations. As an example, by investing perhaps $10,000 to upgrade a welding fixture and doing some welder training, productivity could improve by 20%. An investment in welding typically yields a much shorter payback time than larger capital investments such as new machining equipment.
Some companies would spend $200,000 for a new computer system including training, to improve shop scheduling and reduce inventory, but would not invest in training to improve welding quality and productivity. Improvements in welding generally do not take a lot of capital investment. In fact, most welding savings require little or no capital investment. Only when a company is in control of its engineering and manufacturing disciplines, is it ready for capital investments such as welding automation and robotics.
I talked with many company executives about how they could increase the productivity in their welding operations. The productivity of each welder could be improved by 30% to 50% by putting in place a management system that could achieve typical annual savings of $15,000 to $25,000 per welder. The responses I got were varied.
Some executives would respond with enthusiasm, “You tell a very convincing story.” Many would ask for more detailed information. Others would say, “That sounds like a great program. Why don’t you contact my welding department manager?” or, “Why don’t you send me some information and I will have my engineer give you a call?”
Others responded, “The management system sounds like exactly what we need—our welding operations are not very productive and we do have a number of quality issues,” or, “Our welders are a different breed.. .1 am not sure that they can be managed using a system of management—they must be managed carefully,” and “Welding is more of an art; you can’t control it like machining or fabrication.”
Others would comment, “We tried a welding improvement program several years ago and we did not see any results;”“We feel that it is too difficult to control the welders;” and “The long-term answer to cleaning up and controlling welding is in robotics and automation.”
These comments were far from my experience. I had learned that most welders were very open and excited about learning the science of welding once they were told how this knowledge would benefit them. Most had never been properly trained to understand the physics and chemistry of welding. As an example, they did not understand the molten pool and welding variables necessary to control the weld bead shape, so they could not make judgments to change welding parameters to improve weld quality, and produce more linear inches of weld per minute, with less physical effort.
I found that both welders and supervisors were hungry and eager for knowledge. They wanted to learn and improve to make a better, more consistent product. In too many cases, no one showed them how or provided them with the technical and management support required for continuous improvement.
Proper support of the welder includes training, good weidment design, consistent component parts, good fixtures and welding equipment, and a timely response when there is a deviation from planned production output or weld quality. Support of the welder is the heart of the Total Welding Management System.AWS TWM pdf download.