Three Options For Manufacturers To Stay Ahead Of The Growing Talent Shortage
Resistance welding is a crucial component of the manufacturing industry, with a wide range of applications in the automotive, aerospace, defense & military, medical & healthcare, electronics, and construction sectors. However, as experienced welders enter retirement and a lack of young talent emerges, the industry faces a growing talent shortage and skills gap.
This isn’t a new challenge; manufacturers and fabricators have been grappling with a shortage of welders for years. According to the American Welding Society, the U.S. deficit will reach 400,000 workers by 2024. The situation has only worsened with the COVID-19 pandemic, shifting job opportunities, and generational trends.
According to a 2021 report from Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute, “Creating pathways for tomorrow’s workforce today: Beyond reskilling in manufacturing,” approximately 77% of manufacturers surveyed said they will have ongoing difficulties attracting and retaining workers. The report found that manufacturers had yet to recover 41% of the jobs lost due to the pandemic, which poses a significant risk to the future of the manufacturing economy. It is anticipated that 2.1 million manufacturing jobs will be unfilled by 2030, costing the U.S. economy upwards of $1 trillion.
Despite such grim prospects, some strategies can help any welding operation team. Here we will explore three potential solutions to address the talent gap in the resistance welding manufacturing industry.
Three Options to Solve the Talent Challenge
We’ll take a deep dive and explore the advantages and disadvantages of each available choice, providing a comprehensive analysis for you to make an informed decision.
Option 1 – Robotics
One solution to the talent gap is automation. Incorporating robotics into the manufacturing process can greatly reduce the knowledge burden of specialized skill requirements and reallocate human headcount costs to scale production using machines.
Advantages: Resistance Welding robotics provides an opportunity for manufacturers to improve throughput and reduce labor costs by removing the human element. Combined with resistance welding control equipment to pause the robot and alert someone when a problem develops, operations can prevent these automated systems from producing scrap whenever something happens that requires human intervention to fix. In dangerous manufacturing environments, removing the human operator from the process also improves the overall safety of resistance welding production.
Drawbacks: While the implementation of robotic technology can deliver incredible results (and greatly reduce the impact of the resistance welding talent shortage) it does come with one major drawback – Robotic installations are initially costly and tedious to program. Even though the robot completes the majority of the work, there is still a learning curve for operators to understand this new system, and with the resistance welding industry facing a shortage of talent for general resistance welding expertise, finding qualified personnel to operate and also have knowledge of robotics equipment can be a challenge.
Option 2 – Upgrade Resistance Welding Technology
Upgrading the technology used in resistance welding can streamline processes, reduce human error, and help workers better manage diverse workloads. This method provides a more efficient way to manufacture goods while reducing bottlenecks caused by skill shortages.
Advantages: Advancements in resistance welding technology have provided many new solutions to improve weld quality and output. Typically this is achieved in one of two ways: Implementing a new machine to increase the capacity beyond the current machine, or implementing a new control or monitoring (or both). These technology components, like the WeldComputer Adaptive Control and WeldView Monitor system, allow operations to automatically adjust welding processes to account for variables and alert operators when there is an issue. This removes the knowledge barrier for new operators by letting the equipment dictate when there is a problem, rather than the human operator behind the machine, for sometimes less than a few months of a worker’s salary. In addition, technology upgrades like this can benefit the business in other ways by reducing labor and scrap costs at a lower cost than purchasing a robotics system. Investing in new technology upgrades can also lead to increased product quality and efficiency.
Drawbacks: It comes down to two words – Capital Expenditure. We’ve seen manufacturer CFOs and business operators hesitate to invest in new equipment with today’s uncertain economic climate. With a focus on profitability and production throughput, the cost of not changing continues to have hidden impacts on the organization such as high reject rates and increased scrap costs. Although this is the case, we’ve seen some customers have success with achieving permission for smaller budgets to retrofit their existing machines with a more consistent control. This tends to lead to a more economical alternative (and in some cases a better outcome) than purchasing a new machine or the cost of recruiting, hiring, and training skilled workers. That said, getting sign-off from leadership for an expense like this may prove challenging, but working with vendors to create a cost savings and economic impact analysis might be the best way to gain budget justification. (P.S. – Contact us if you’re interested in the potential savings for your operation!)
Option 3 – Operator Training
Finally, investing in operator training programs can help aspiring resistance welding engineers and operators gain the critical skills and knowledge they need to become proficient in producing high-quality products for your organization. By developing operator knowledge through a seminar or training program, companies can ensure their future talent receives high-quality education based on industry standards, best practices, and the latest resistance welding innovations.
Advantages: From an industry-wide perspective, taking resistance welding training courses, like the Certified Resistance Welding Technician Seminar offered by AWS, is a fantastic way to build a more robust pool of skilled talent in the manufacturing industry. While this course is also great for anyone, other experts in the industry offer a combined classroom and hands-on experience approach tailored to your operation and application, such as WeldComputer’s Resistance Welding Training Course. These courses are designed specifically around the manufacturer’s application so operators, shop managers, production supervisors, welding engineers, and technicians can absorb a wealth of information tailored to their use case. Training like this offers a masterclass in understanding resistance welding processes, physics, quality assessment techniques, how to spot and fix welding issues, and everything in between. Improving the knowledge and skill level of operators will improve the overall quality of the welded product and as a result, lead to a more efficient operation. Furthermore, investing in operator training can help manufacturers retain experienced workers and reduce the burdens of the talent shortage.
Drawbacks: Time and costs. The only reason why a business would not invest in training or continued education for their workers is due to a fear of loss in production hours or the cost of sending their team to be trained. While this is a concern, the benefits of having more skilled operators who can improve production outputs, reduce downtime, elevate their welding quality, identify and solve issues quicker, and prolong the lifespans of their welding machines and related consumables would offset the costs and time for attendance.
Overcoming the Resistance Welding Talent Gap
Resistance welding talent is an essential aspect of any manufacturer’s operation, but skill shortages could potentially stunt future growth and development of their production capabilities. Investing in operator training, upgrading resistance welding technology, or introducing robotics can help solve the resistance welding talent shortages and skills gap.
As consumer demand increases, so does the importance of providing high-quality products, which means delivering exceptional resistance welding practices. Manufacturers must continually keep up to date and adapt to new welding technologies and new industry standards to continue to produce advanced products. And more importantly, ensure they have the right human expertise behind that technology to ensure scalable and consistent operations.
