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Digital Wire Feeders Ensure Weld Consistency
- Digital wire feeders with weld parameter locks help ensure proper bead profile
- Adhering to weld procedure reduces reject rates, maintains consistency
- Digital control increases productivity, produces 3-month payback
Customer Testimonial
“Our tolerances are tighter than American Welding Society standards. We need to ensure that operators stay within our established parameters, and programmable feeders help maintain weld quality from operator to operator and shift to shift.”
— Aaron Evans, quality assurance manager, Frazier Industrial
Application
High volume MIG welding of structural steel storage rack systems and rack-supported structures for warehouse storage applications.
Key Business Issue
Maintain weld consistency and quality among multiple manufacturing locations throughout North America.
Challenge
- Ensure that welding operators at all locations stay within specified welding parameters.
- Reduce reject rates.
- Find a digital solution that is easy to use and affordable.
Previous System & Process
Deltaweld 450-amp power sources paired with analog feeders.
New Solution
- Upgrade to Miller 70 Series “DX” model digital wire feeders with programmable capabilities.
- The 70 Series' welding process range control locks parameters at a set percentage of welding parameters to ensure welding procedures and quality standards are maintained.
- Four weld programs allow storing four independent sets of welding parameters.
Results
- Increased consistency. “Our procedures are such that we need to control both the width and the penetration of the bead so that we get good tie-in on both plates involved with the weld. The reason we use the Miller [70 Series] wire feeders is because they help us control part of that process.”
— Aaron Evans, quality assurance manager, Frazier Industrial - Ease of use. “We don't need all the bells and whistles. What we need is a stripped down version of a programmable feeder. And that's just what [Miller] came up with.”
— Aaron Evans, quality assurance manager, Frazier Industrial - Three-month payback. By eliminating the need to calibrate equipment at the beginning of every shift, Frazier saves 10 minutes per shift. By gaining an additional 10 minutes of production time, Frazier paid for the difference between an analog feeder and the 70 Series DX feeder in less than three months.
- Lower reject rate. “Inspecting product after it's built is too late from the standpoint that the damage is already done and rework costs time and money. In a high-speed production environment, you can pretty much control your destiny with the equipment you choose.”
— Aaron Evans, quality assurance manager, Frazier Industrial
