Essential Manufacturing Costs to Consider when Choosing Automated Welding Solutions

There's no denying it - capital planning can be tricky, even for the most aligned teams. In this resource, we’ll review five key manufacturing costs every team should consider when determining if welding automation (and which type) is the right fit for them. These costs provide a foundation for crucial conversations, helping to clarify your welding automation journey. Our pro tip? Take your time and work through the tough questions. Understanding these costs reveal critical insights, allowing you to assess how you might be able to reduce manufacturing costs with automated welding.

5 MANUFACTURING COST TO TALK THROUGH WHEN CONSIDERING IF WELDING AUTOMATION IS RIGHT FOR YOU

Author Headers (7)

Sections of this resource:

Introduction
Quick Glance: Infographic
5 Key Costs:
- 1. Safety
- 2. Material Handling
- 3. Cycle Times and Labour Hours
- 4. On Arc time
- 5. Knowing your extra costs
Conclusion

Introduction

Investing in welding automation is a significant decision, likely driven by challenges your company faces—perhaps you’re struggling to find skilled welders, or you need to boost production throughput. Deciding if welding automation is right for you requires a deep dive into your manufacturing process.

Understanding the full range of costs in your current manufacturing process helps establish a baseline, highlighting areas where automation could yield the greatest benefits, whether in welding, material handling, or both. These costs are also essential for assessing your welding automation ROI, providing a clear guide to achieving success.

To help guide your decision-making, here are five essential manufacturing costs to evaluate, along with guiding questions to help kickstart your discussions.

[More text below infographic]

1. Safety:

Safety is paramount in any manufacturing environment, especially in heavy industry. Consider the following:

Cost of Safety: What expenses are currently associated with maintaining safety in your process? Are you incurring extra costs due to safety concerns?
Risk Reduction through Automation: Could welding automation reduce lost-time injuries or prevent plant damage from incidents involving part positioning or material handling?
Operator Health: What if repetitive tasks could be automated to reduce operator fatigue and improve safety?

2. Material Handling:

Material handling can greatly affect time and costs in a manufacturing setup. Identifying material handling inefficiencies can reveal substantial opportunities for improvement with automation and supporting a more efficient workflow.

Process Flow: What are the steps, lifts, and movements required for material handling in your process?
Handling Costs: How much time and money are dedicated to this part of your production?
Workflow Disruption: Are other workstations or processes disrupted with each material move?

3. Cycle Times and Labour Hours:

Understanding cycle times and labor demands is essential when evaluating automation’s potential impact. Cycle times and labor hours directly affect productivity and contribute to overall costs. Optimizing specific cycles through automation can streamline production, boosting welding automation ROI through efficiency gains.

Cycle Details: What are your cycle times for each step of production?
Labor Hours: How many hours are devoted to each product? How many shifts and hours of welding are involved?
Cost Influencers: What controllable and uncontrollable factors affect the cost of each cycle?

4. On Arc Time:

On-arc time—the actual welding duration—plays a significant role in manufacturing costs. Achieving optimal on-arc time can impact your overall ROI in welding automation, making it a key factor for teams considering automation.

On-Arc Goals: What are your on-arc time targets, and what does it cost if these targets are not met?
Cost Implications: How does on-arc time factor into your total manufacturing costs?

5. Knowing your Extra Costs:

In addition to direct costs, other production expenses can impact overall expenses.

Hidden Costs: What other expenses—like maintenance, downtime, and consumables—affect your total production cost?

Being aware of these extra costs ensures a comprehensive understanding of your investment and its potential ROI, supporting informed decisions as you consider whether automation will effectively reduce costs in your operation.

Conclusion:

Understanding the full range of costs in each production stage is essential for determining the benefits of automation and assessing your potential welding automation ROI. With clear answers to these questions, achieving ROI becomes more achievable. Without clear answers to these questions, you'll find it difficult to have a clear ROI. We can create the solution, but is it the best fit for you? We want it to be.

Our team at IRCO Automation can work with you to develop automated welding solutions tailored to your goals and help you evaluate the true costs and benefits. If you’re interested in more information or want to discuss specifics, contact us for an automated welding quote today to see how we can help streamline your production process.

For more information about IRCO Automation's automated welding solutions, visit the Welding Automation page on our website.

Connect with our team by sending us an email at: info@ircoautomation.com

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