31-january-2022
Robotic Welding vs. Manual Welding
In the metallurgical industry, it is very important to know the advantages and disadvantages of robotic welding and manual welding. When deciding, you should think well about all pros and cons to make the choice that will be most beneficial to you.
ROBOTIC WELDING
Robotic welding is another name for automated welding and involves one of two processes. The first option is fully automated welding, where machines take 100% control of the production process, from start to finish. On the other hand, in semi-automatic welding, an operator guides the loading and unloading of the material when the machine cycle ends.
Advantages of Robotic Welding
- Welding quality: automation guarantees the quality of the welding thanks to the electronic process controllers. Furthermore, the results are much more consistent than manual welding.
- Greater efficiency: the robot's efficiency is constant while the manual welding efficiency decreases throughout the working day, due to operator wear.
- Less waste: due to the high precision of robotic welding, much less scrap and waste is produced.
- Lower production costs: although people are needed in semi-automatic welding processes, still fewer workers are needed than manual welding.
Disadvantages of Robotic Welding
- Cost: the initial investment is quiet expense, even though it is easily recovered compared to the cost of investment/salary savings ratio.
- Lack of flexibility: although robotic welding can perform the same tasks over and over, when something different is needed it must be reconfigured and this takes time and money.
MANUAL WELDING
Manual welding is done by humans and not machines. This type of process continues to be widely used in certain market sectors, such as large-scale shipbuilding.
Advantages of Manual Welding
- Greater flexibility: manual welding workers do not need to be retrained each time they are given a different type of welding job.
- Easy to replacement: if one welder cannot weld on a given day, another welder can take over the project. This is in case you have a large team of welders. However, due to the lack of skilled labor this replacement is not that easy anymore.
- Recognition Ability: qualified welders can interpret the welding signals and sense if something is going wrong, such as if there is evidence of contaminated material or excess oxide, and this damages the weld.
Disadvantages of Manual Welding
- Risk: if an employee has an accident at work, he may be on sick leave for a few days or even months. A robot, in case something goes wrong, just needs to be fixed.
- Speed: robots are faster and more agile than humans during the complete welding process of a component and no interruptions in movement between welds.
- Efficiency: hardly two parts will be produced with the same level of precision.
AUTOMATIZE YOUR PRODUCTION NOW
Whether you’re considering welding aluminum or any other metal, robotic welding is increasingly the preferred option for many companies, for all the benefits it brings with it.
If you're tempted to automate your production, don't waste any more time and contact Motofil now. We are here to help you improve your production, with our state-of-the-art solutions combined with over 40 years of experience in the automation market.
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