Here’s the top 5 – check out the article for the rest:

1: Improper filler metal storage

2: Repurposing old equipment

3: Using the wrong sized MIG gun

4: Improper preheat or interpass temperature control

5: Ignoring preventative maintenance

Read the whole story here. After the excerpt, see what the folks at Bollinger Shipyards had to say about Miller’s AlumaFeed™ System.

Aluminum is increasingly specified in marine applications because it’s lighter without sacrificing strength and functionality. This makes ships faster, saves on fuel, and provides them with excellent anti-corrosive properties. It does, however, present difficulties: distortion, cleanliness, aesthetics, burn through and difficult wire feeding, to name a few.

To best meet these challenges, Bollinger overhauled its entire aluminum welding facility to include a new bulk gas delivery system, wall-mounted booms for wire feeders, and new AlumaFeed™ synergic aluminum welding systems from Miller Electric Mfg. Co. The system is designed to simplify and improve MIG and Pulsed MIG aluminum welding applications and has proven a good fit at Bollinger.

Improvements include: Hours saved in productivity, thanks to the synergic controls; reduced distortion and burn through, thanks to the Pulsed MIG capabilities; the aesthetics of a TIG weld with the production speeds of MIG welding; less bird nesting, thanks to advanced wire feeding technology; switch to a larger diameter wire, which allows for faster travel speeds.

Shop operators here complete joints three to four times faster than shops that rely solely on stick and TIG technology. How? They use a pipe-specific multi-process welding system from Miller Electric Mfg. Co. (Appleton, WI) called PipeWorx™ that was recommended by Jim Hedberg, a representative from Pacific Welding Supply (Tacoma, WA).

The PipeWorx system uses Pro-Pulse™ pulsed MIG and RMD™ (regulated metal deposition) processes, as well as stick, TIG and flux cored processes that have been optimized specifically for pipe fabrication. The system also provides traditional MIG processes. Switching between processes requires only the push of one button, with no need to manually switch polarity, cables or hoses, thus increasing productivity and eliminating a potential source of errors.

You can read the whole article here. You can also watch a video of the guys from Shinn discussing RMD and Pro-Pulse here.

Check out the press release and see our new brochure at our new Automation page here.

This strategic partnership makes Miller Welding Automation the distribution route for Panasonic robotic welding arms in North America. The welding arms will be combined with Miller products and delivered to the market as part of a complete automated welding system. As part of this transaction, Miller has purchased assets of the Panasonic Factory Solutions Company of America (PFSA) welding automation business.

Check out the News Release for a small sample of the exciting new products that will be on display.

If you can’t make it to the show, be sure to check our Youtube, Facebook and Twitter pages for live updates and videos from the show floor!

The Auto-Line feature also allows the unit to seamlessly recognize and respond to power fluctuations due to brownouts or the heavy loads from other machinery without any fluctuations in cutting performance.

And for those who want to take their cutting precision to the next level, an optional machine torch package is available that allows the unit to be hooked up to a variety of automated cutting systems.

Check out the news release and product page for complete details.

The vehicles are similar to the MRAP (mine resistant ambush protected) vehicles used by the U.S. military, and require the utmost quality from their welds in order to be effective at protecting their occupants from road-side attacks and improvised explosive devices.

The contract called for Ultra to be able to weld MIL-A 46100 ballistic steel in all positions with a 307 stainless steel filler metal, and using the Accu-Pulse™ Pulsed MIG technology in Miller’s Axcess® “multi-MIG” systems, the company was able to produce those components with only 23 defects — a rate of .03 percent.

Click here to read the full story about the challenges Ultra Machine and Fabrication faced in meeting the welding demands for the M-ATV contract and how the Axcess’ Accu-Pulse technology helped the company successfully complete the project and positioned it to win more in the future.

If you’re interested in the success of manufacturing in this country, you might want to check out www.manufacturingthefuture.com, the web site for a documentary that the videographer is currently working on. He has interviews with a wide variety of manufacturing experts about the future of manufacturing along with many programs designed to generate interest in manufacturing among high school and college students.

Unfortunate as the problem is for the Navy and the company responsible for inspecting and repairing the welds, the situation calls to light the importance of welding—highly skilled welding, specifically—to our national security.

Welding literally holds together the ships, airplanes, tanks and other vehicles that protect our country and its people on a daily basis, and the problems encountered in these ships is evidence of the skill and knowledge required to successfully perform a weld that will endure extreme stress and pressure.

It’s also sadly ironic that this news story emerged just about a week after welding was listed as the fifth worst out of 200 selected careers. The welding industry needs people with the ability and desire to perform the welds critical to our national security, yet surveys like these could discourage those people from considering a career in welding.

On a positive note, the company that builds these ships for the Navy said that it has recertified its welders and inspectors and stepped up its pipe weld inspection system. Hopefully their efforts will result in improved weld integrity and very little downtime for these ships.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Have you noticed a lack of skill at the highest level of safety-critical welding? Do you believe that companies are not enforcing their welding specifications as strictly as they should? What can be done to show our best and brightest the potential for rewarding and important work within the welding industry? Share your thoughts by posting a comment below.

The most recent indicator signaling improvement within the manufacturing sector was a higher than anticipated rise in the Institute for Supply Management’s Purchasing Manager’s Index — its highest reading since April 2006. The Index tracks a variety of indicators, including new orders, inventories and production, to arrive at a number that represents the rate of growth or contraction in the market.

With the impact of the recession still fresh in their minds, many companies are choosing to respond to this new growth using their existing staff rather than adding new employees. One option for addressing this challenge is through the acquisition of new, productivity-enhancing equipment.

New equipment can help a company meet its orders with its existing staff, which in turn can increase profitability and eventually help lead the way toward expanding their business.

As we all know, however, financing new purchases has gotten a lot tougher over the past 18 months. In response to the difficulties that many companies face in obtaining credit, some equipment manufacturers, including Miller, are offering financing programs at very favorable interest rates.

How do you plan to respond to an improving economy and increases in orders? Will you look to purchase new equipment before adding to your payroll? Do you expect difficulties finding financing for your purchases? Share your thoughts on this subject by posting a comment below.

More information about Miller’s 0% financing program can be found here.