Strive for Cost Efficient and Quality Welding Services

There are many reasons why companies need to invest in welding services. As with any investment, it’s important to do your research to make sure you’re getting the best value for your dollar. It’s also important to understand that there are a variety of factors that can affect the cost of welding services.

The more experienced, better equipped and properly staffed a welding services provider is, the better they should be able to minimize the overall costs. Therefore, when shopping for a welding services provider, you should find out what systems each organization has in place to provide the highest quality products in the timeliest and most cost-effective manner.

The Main Factors

Welding is a time consuming process, no matter how experienced the welder. Time, therefore, is often the most expensive factor to consider. Of course, a more experienced and skilled welder will be faster by default, and will be more likely to find efficient ways to save time, which will ultimately affect the overall cost.

Time

Some examples of processes included in welding services where time is significant factor include:

• Preparing joints
• Preparing materials to be welded (such as removing oils, blasting, etc.)
• Assembling joints
• Preheating joints when necessary
• Tack-up
• Positioning
• Welding (time will vary depending on how automated the process is)
• Removing slag when necessary
• Removing splatter
• Inspecting welds and joints
• Changing electrodes
• Moving welders from one location to another
• Changing welding machine settings
• Repairing/reworking defective welds

Each of these processes takes time. However, when done carefully and skillfully, time can be managed with an eye to efficiency. For example, repairing and/or re-working defective welds is something that shouldn’t occur often if an expert welder is performing the services, although it will happen from time to time.

Materials & Equipment

Material selection is an obvious component of price, but so is the equipment necessary to perform the services. Materials and equipment costs to be considered include:

• Shielding materials
• Electrodes
• Electric power use
• Fuel gas used for preheating
• Type of alloys being welded
• Maintenance of necessary equipment

Estimating Welding Costs

When requesting estimates for welding services, there are three basic methods for estimating costs, which include: 1) cost per unit, 2) cost per length, and, 3) cost per weight. Which approach is used will depend on what type of welds are being performed, what type of materials are being welded, and the scope of the overall services needed.

Ask the list of questions below to determine whether your project would benefit from orbital welding versus other welding or fitting options. These questions take time and cost factors into consideration to offer you the best-possible quote:

• What type of material is already being used in the existing project? Does the material need to remain the same?
• What is the size and diameter of the material to be welded?
• How many fittings are needed to complete this project?
• How much space is required between weldments and fittings?
• What kind of material finishing is needed?
• Does Axenics have the right head for the orbital welding machine in-house or will we need to purchase and/or have one designed?
• If the right head is not currently available, what is the cost to purchase the needed head or produce a custom head for the machine?

Choosing a Welding Services Provider

Because the cost of welding services can vary depending on the time required for each of the processes listed above, and the materials and equipment being used, it’s best to work with an organization like Axenics that specializes in providing cost efficient and quality welding services.

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