Category: Company Updates

The welding industry is suffering from a critical shortage of skilled welders at a time when welding job opportunities are increasing annually. For this reason it is vital for employers with welding workshops to ensure their equipment is cutting edge, with the potential to put them ahead of their competitors. And one of the most innovative ways to do this is to use high tech modular welding tables that enable one skilled welder to do jobs that would normally require at least two pairs of hands.

Skilled Welder Shortage in the US Manufacturing Economy

The American Welding Society (AWS) has predicted that by 2024 the welding industry will have a shortage of around 400,000 welding operators. This is not surprising since data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that from 1988 to 2012, the number of welders in the US reduced from 570,000 to 360,000. Coupled with this, the manufacturing industry in general, and oil and gas industry in particular, has grown exponentially since mid-2009, adding more jobs for specialist welders than anyone would have imagined was possible.

Another BLS stat indicates that during the decade from 2010 to 2020 (which of course we are more than halfway through) will show a 15 percent growth in welding-related positions, which is higher than those for most other occupations. This, they say, indicates that by 2020, there will be around 50,000 more welding positions available than there were six years ago.

Coupled with the fact that properly trained career welders are in greater demand in manufacturing than ever before, welders can pick and choose where they work. Proper AWS certified training enables a career welder to cherry-pick jobs in a wide range of manufacturing industries, particularly when they have training and have experience in the latest technologies, together with the opportunity to use cutting edge equipment.

How a Forster America Welding Table Can Save Time and Money

It stands to reason that any company hiring welders will want to ensure the quality of workmanship is tops. However, manufacturing and other businesses hiring welders need to ensure that not only are the welders properly trained to use the latest welding techniques, but the welding equipment is also innovative and cutting edge. By using equipment that can cut down on downtime and enable one welder to do the same job two or more welders would normally be expected to do, in the same (or shorter) period of time, will save any business both time and money.

There are not a lot of elements that comprise the ability to complete the welding process, other than the appropriate welding machine and the bits and pieces required for the specific process chosen.

So what gives our welding table the cutting edge?

In a nutshell, if a welding table is modular, easy-to-clean, easy-to-maintain without having to splurge on replacement parts, and it’s efficient, then it’s going to save you time and money. That’s what Forster America has to offer with all of our specialty and modular welding tables.

An easy-to-clean welding table will have worktable-tops and rails that have been innovatively designed and then soaked in an oil formula that enables you to get rid of spatter instantly. What this means is that spatter simply pops off the surface while the welders are working. Then it can be cleaned very easily without any grinding or elbow grease. That feature saves a lot of time when it comes to cleanup, and time translates to financial savings.

Easy cleaning takes time and money savings to another level too. Because there is no need to grind off spatter, welding workshops will save the integrity of tabletops and they will last a lot longer. Furthermore, if one rail of a well-designed cutting edge modular welding table is damaged, all the welders need to do is replace the rail and not the whole tabletop.

Ultimately, the best modular tables available today don’t only make it easier for welders to work, they improve uptime too, because one welder can do the job two (or more) welders would normally do in the same time. When a well-designed modular table is available, a well-trained qualified welder seldom needs assistance manipulating a work piece in the middle of a project.

How Forster America’s Cutting Edge Welding Tables Work

Once upon a time a welding table was simply a table with a flat surface made of metal – commonly mild steel, but ultimately depending on the metal being welded. To weld different components that had to be positioned at different angles, welders had to use jigs and clamps and other quite basic, but often custom-made aids to get the job right.

And then technology saved the day, and 3D modular tables were designed that enabled welders to tackle any job using a proprietary T-slot system. These contemporary welding tables incorporate modular parts with slots that can be opened and adjusted to accommodate different metal parts within the design of the item being welded.

The best modular tables can be tilted, moved and customized with built-in jigs in a fraction of the time any regular, quite old-fashioned welder would need to set up a mid-job position for welding. Better still, one skilled worker can do it alone, which is good news in an industry that has fewer workers than it did a decade ago. The “secret” about so-called cutting edge welding tables is that they can hold a full range of 3D welding components and accessories required to complete an amazing range of welding tasks.

Whether you are a welder or a business that employs welders, cutting edge equipment is available to take your business to the next level. You might need to hire more staff, but you should also look at what upgraded equipment can do for you, particularly a welding table that’s going to minimize your downtime.