Once again, another FABTECH International/AWS Welding Show has come and gone. If you were there, or if you checked out our social media reports live from the show floor, you saw many brand new products and even more existing products refined to better serve the industries for which they were developed.

The theme of the show this year was “Converge to Emerge,” as in emerging from the recession in a better position to profit and gain market share as the economy recovers. To that end, both the exhibitors and attendees at the show demonstrated an optimism that the light at the end of the economic tunnel is growing brighter and brighter.

If you attended the show, were you impressed by the products and technologies on display? Do you plan on making any purchases based on the equipment you found at the show? Did you leave the show with a renewed hope for the future of the welding and fabrication industry?

Share your thoughts on this year’s FABTECH International/AWS Welding Show by posting a comment below.

Fabtech & AWS 2009 opens its Solution Showcase Theater on Monday, showcasing ways to operate a more efficient and competitive business. Monday’s schedule includes:

10 AM-11 AM: Don’t Lose Your Sales Focus in a Down Economy; Joe Mayer, managing partner, Mayer Business Group LLC.

11:30 AM-12:30 PM: Smart Strategies for Preserving Stakeholder Relationships; Dick Kallage, Bill Barron and Patric Donahue of KDC Associates

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM: How to Protect Your Company from Customer Bankruptcy; Steven Gan, president, Stellar Rick Management.

All of these topics are relevant to the market as it exists today. What is your company doing to stay successful in a down economy?

The largest American welding, manufacturing and fabrication trade show of the year, the FABTECH International/AWS Welding Show, is less than a month away. Many insiders will be watching this year’s show in Chicago closely to gauge the economic condition of industry and where it is headed in the near future.

Strong attendance at the show will be taken as a sign that employers are at least thinking about investing in new equipment and are anticipating an economic recovery by looking into equipment that can give them a competitive advantage when the turnaround happens.

Trade shows also provide a glimpse into the types of markets that equipment manufacturers view as growth industries. As noted recently by Vicki Bell, editor of The Fabricator’s Web site, the Essen Welding and Cutting Show in Germany offered a preponderance of new products designed for the power generation industry. Wonder what we’ll see in Chicago?

Are you planning on attending the FABTECH International/AWS Welding Show? What will you be looking for at the show? Do you find tradeshows to be a valuable way of discovering new technologies and products, or are there other reasons you attend? Share your thoughts by posting a comment below.

Summer’s over and school is back in session, but this fall, it’s not just for the kids. From South Carolina to Massachusetts to California, states across the country are experiencing huge surges in vocational and technical school enrollment among students in their 40’s and 50’s.

This should come as no surprise, given the state of the economy and the unemployment rate, but there are other less obvious reasons that probably share some of the credit for attracting more non-traditional sutdents into the trades.
One likely reason that the skilled trades are enjoying renewed appeal is that a plumber in China will be completely useless if your water pipes freeze and crack this winter — for the most part, skilled trade work cannot be outsourced to low wage countries. By contrast, employers are realizing that modern communications technology makes it possible to ship a great many jobs overseas, including engineers, bookkeepers, computer programmers and more.

Another possible explanation for increased trade school enrollment is the realization that these jobs can provide a very respectable living – in many cases, a journeyman willing to travel and work overtime can earn well into six figures.

And finally, popular culture must also take some of the credit for the skilled trade renaissance. Many new reality television shows, such as American Chopper, The Deadliest Catch and American Loggers, portray manual labor as a physically demanding, yet exciting and personally fulfilling life.

Are you seeing an increased interest in trade education among people over 40? What do you think is driving this trend? Share your thoughts on this subject by posting a comment below.

If recent reports in the news and trade press are any indication, the U.S. welding industry may be in for some significant changes in the coming years.

While two of the major industrial sectors — manufacturing (including fabrication) and construction — are in the midst of year over year job cuts with no significant end in sight, other sectors appear poised to take up the slack with new job growth.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the manufacturing sector accounted for 31 percent of all layoffs in August — the most of any industry — and construction made up for 11 percent of all layoffs, an increase from 10 percent of all layoffs in August 2008.

Meanwhile, the online editor for The Fabricator, Vicki Bell, observed a surge in new products designed for the energy sector — specifically tube and pipe welding and wind tower construction — at the recent Essen Welding Show in Germany.

Other industries, such as shipbuilding and mining also appear to have strong prospects for the near future.

These changes will undoubtedly present both challenges and opportunities. Welders, welding engineers, weld inspectors and others in the field will need to take steps to ensure their skill sets match those that are in demand by growing industries.

Are there other sectors of the welding industry that you think will grow faster than others in the years to come? Tell us where you think the welding jobs will be found in the near future by posting a comment below.