Job Shop Gets a Square Deal with Metal-Cored Wire

Converting the robotic welding cells to metal-cored wire involved bringing [former] Hobart Brothers senior welding engineer Mike Spodar into the process. Spodar took actual components from Square Deal Machining back to the labs at Hobart Brothers and developed robotic welding programs for them using the Metalloy 76 wire. Since then, Baatz, who has a background in welding and oversees all of the robotic programming, says he needs only to make minor adjustments to those programs in order to weld the wide variety of parts that the company produces.

“Hobart Brothers really showed us how wide of an envelope this product has. We wouldn’t have thought of using it on some of the lighter materials that we fabricate here,” notes Baatz. “Now we can basically use the same programs on our robots since we have a good baseline. Our welding parameters don’t change much unless one of our parts changes significantly.” He says the company welds materials as thin as 16 ga and as thick as one inch. The basic setup for his robots consists of operating the Metalloy 76 wire at approximately 24 volts, 180 amps to 185 amps, and at a wire feed speed of around 300 ipm. All jobs are done in-position through fixturing and require strict adherence to code, mostly American Welding Society (AWS) D1.1.

BETTER PAYBACKS WITH METAL-CORED WIRE
Since converting to metal-cored wire, Square Deal Machining has enjoyed other benefits, too. Baatz cites a cost savings of approximately 20 percent, which has come in the form of faster weld speeds, some up to 60 percent faster, and a reduction in parts rejects, particularly less instances of deformation of the steel and warping. But the most significant savings comes from having cleaner welds.

Baatz adds that the company, as Morgan wished, has significantly reduced the need to purchase abrasives such as wire wheels and sanding disks to clean up spatter after welding. They have also been able to reallocate labor that was previously responsible for post-weld cleanup to other parts of the company in order to support the company’s throughput. “I used to have four or five people on a bench dedicated to cleaning parts after they came out of the weld cell,” recalls Baatz. “Now I have two people managing the job for the same amount of product. We just don’t have the cleanup like before.”

The shop has been able to standardize its inventory, too, and only keeps two wires in stock: Metalloy 76 and one solid wire for the very light, thin materials that aren’t suited to metal-cored wire. It has also been able to standardize on .045 in wire Metalloy 76 wire for all of its robotic applications.

Baatz also says the company is pleased with the overall productivity increases that have resulted from converting to metal-cored wire three years ago. By Baatz’s calculations, the company has improved its productivity by 30 percent to 40 percent, as a result of having faster, cleaner welds. “We’re pleased with these results and glad that we had customers who were willing to share information about the metal-cored wire technology,” remarks Baatz. “Sometimes it’s hard to make changes, but for us it’s all about continuous improvement. It’s what makes us successful.”

Square Deal Machining, Inc., 98 US Route 11, Marathon, NY 13803, 607-849-3502, Fax: 607-849-6868, sales@squaredealinc.com, www.squaredealinc.com.