Highly-skilled workers are of fundamental importance to the ongoing success of any manufacturing business. Proficient welders form an essential part of this group of valuable employees and, in recognition of this fact, internationally-recognised manufacturing and engineering company DCD is continually undertaking initiatives to improve internal skills development.

Among the most recent was a first-of-its-kind 'Top Guns Skills' competition for welders in October 2013. The competition was hosted by Newcastle-based DCD Venco - a specialist in the fabrication, manufacture and refurbishment of medium to heavy duty mechanical components. DCD Venco general manager Willem Mare reveals that the main objective of the event was to motivate existing DCD Group employees to improve their skills. "Events such as this encourage welding improvements and set the scene for healthy competition among welders." Leading gas and welding products manufacturer Afrox sponsored the welding competition, which was divided into three different sections, namely;

Project 1: MIG (GMAW) welding 1,2 mm Afrox MIG 6000 welding wire and Argoshield Universal shielding gas. Application: 350mm x 200mm x 16mm plate on plate fillet in the 1F position with a stop/start at 175mm. Leg length is 12mm.

Project 2: Flux cored arc welding 1,2mm AfroxTM791 welding wire with Fluxshield shielding gas. Application: 350mm x 200mm x 16mm plate butt welded with a 60 degree inclusive bevel angle in the 2G position.

Project 3: Shielded metal arc welding with Afrox 7018-1 welding electrodes of various sizes. Here, a full penetration weld is required. Application: 350mm x 200mm x 16mm plate butt welded with a 60 degree inclusive bevel in the 3G position.

The top prize for the winner of the welding competition was an Afrox arranged SAIW welding practitioner's training programme valued at R27 000. What's more, the winner also received a R5 000 cash prize, while the runner-up received R3 000 and third place received R2 000 in cash. Vereeniging-based DCD Heavy Engineering is also contributing to skills development through its new-and-improved training facility, which opened in late 2012. DCD Heavy Engineering human resources manager Sue Steyn notes that the company currently has 67 apprentices being trained in disciplines that include; welding, boilermaking, fitting and turning. "The apprenticeship period is a minimum of 80 weeks and a maximum of four years. It involves the students receiving initial training in the training facility and then gaining experience in the DCD workshops while completing their training programme. Each student has a programme which is tailor-made for their specific needs, and that works towards them attaining their trade papers in whichever trade they are specialising," she states.

DCD Heavy Engineering general manager Gary Colegate notes that 80 percent of the products produced by the company are grinding mills and related components for the mining sector both locally and internationally. "The typical plate thickness for the flanges of one of these mills ranges between 150 mm and 275 mm with shell t thicknesses up to 85 mm. To weld materials of these thicknesses, requires highly-skilled welders. We make use of sub-arc welding (SAW) on the longitudinal seams to manufacture the can, circumferential seams between the flanges and the shells as well as the shell plate joining seams."

"On a large grinding mill, the typical shell length is 6 m with a diameter up to 11 meters. Once the cans have been manufactured, they are assembled with a flange on either end, and we complete SAW on both flange to shell seams simultaneously. The cans are set up on rotators with welding heads fixed above the seams. This involves a substantial amount of welding, and continuous skills development is essential to ensure a sound weld that satisfies the customer's stringent requirements," he continues.

DCD Rolling Stock - a leading manufacturer and supplier of locomotives, wagons and bogies to railway, mining and industrial operations - invested R10-million in the installation of four robotic welding cells in October 2013, as part of its commitment to streamlining the welding process. DCD Rolling Stock manufacturing manager Frank Ramage indicates that the implementation of Swedish-engineered Motoman automated robotic welding cells has increased production volumes, in addition to more efficiently utilising the skills of experienced manual welders. "The larger cells have a reach of 3,2 m and can currently weld structures up to approximately 9 m in length. Due to their modular design, they can be extended beyond 12 m to 18 m to ensure faster turnaround times. By incorporating these robotic welding cells into the manufacturing lines on straight weld jobs, we can remove experienced welders from this standard and mundane task, and redirect them to more complex projects with curves and corners that require their skills," he notes. Ramage states that automation has not downsized staff numbers, but rather increased volumes while improving worker morale and productivity through effective skills utilisation. "Automation allows for the welding of four fabricated bogie frames with a length of approximately 7,5 m, with the capacity to increase by extending the rail and tracks and adding additional robots simultaneously."

According to Ramage, another advantage of implementing robotic welding cells is the fact that existing staff members are upskilled in learning to operate the software. "A higher level of work complexity positively engages the manual welders, and encourages them to produce higher quality work. The Motoman robotic welding cell equipment is among the most advanced in the world, and staff members being trained in the application of this technology benefit from gaining new industry insight ahead of others," he concludes.