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The increasing complexity of welded products has made the development of welding procedure specifications (WPS) more time-consuming. As industries move to subcontractor and multi-site based operating models, WPS management also becomes more demanding. During the development of our new arc welding equipment for demanding industrial welding, we began to rethink the printed WPS. Is the manual way truly the only option in this era of connected systems? Could digitalization offer new efficiency to the use and processing of the WPS?

Eliminate rework and poor welding quality

Kemppi’s X8 MIG Welder features a new digital WPS (dWPS) function that allows welders to view relevant welding procedure specifications and their latest revisions in digital format right at the welding station. The digital WPSs are managed in the WeldEye cloud service from where they are automatically transferred to the X8 MIG Welder’s wireless user interface, Control Pad. The welding parameters can also be adjusted automatically for the welding system based on the WPS that has been selected and activated on the Control Pad’s display. Not only does the dWPS function allow the welders to focus more on actual welding and productive work, but it also decreases the possibility of human error and can thus prevent possible welding defects. On the other hand, the welder’s job will become easier when the right welding parameters are conveniently available for each weld.

Redefine welding management

Digital welding management offers significant time savings also to welding coordination. In the case of a company with 25 welders who each hold five qualifications on average, one business year equals to 250 qualification prolongations in total. This can take a lot of time if the qualification certificates are processed manually. When the welders’ qualifications are managed digitally with a welding management software solution, all qualification certificates that are about to expire can be prolonged at once with just a few clicks. A task that previously took at least several minutes, will now only take a few seconds.

It is also possible to speed up the search for relevant welding procedure specifications. If a company performs five WPS searches per day, a digital solution for WPS management will decrease the time spent on the task by up to 80%. In addition, the digital format saves money by preventing any overlapping welding procedure specifications and making sure that even companies with multi-site manufacturing have only one WPS created or purchased for a specific purpose.

Got interested? Try the WeldEye cloud service free of charge for 14 days!