IIW White Paper

9 Needs and challenges of major industry sectors for future applications

of welders. In particular, joining technology designed in a way appropriate for certain ages and, in future, training and advanced training concepts adapted to this will accompany the utilisation of joining technology to an even greater extent than now ( see Chapters 6.3 to 6.5 ). Against the background of longer working life times, concepts for permanent further qualification must be developed for all employees at an early stage and allow them to be qualified for a longer period and to be successfully active in the company. In this respect, production technology and joining technology must react to different interests from industry and the skilled trades. The skilled trades necessitate a fundamental understanding of application-oriented fabrication concepts using joining technology. Manual joining with an assured quality is essential for many fields of the skilled trades. In this case, cost-favourable training concepts are constantly being discussed as a challenge. Here, modern welding trainer concepts (virtual systems) offer solutions in order to also implement product-related demands from sets of rules in joining technology. Production using joining technology and international interweaving Devices and facilities as well as filler materials and auxiliary materials for joining are utilised all over the world but must meet the respective regionally different conditions and statutory requirements. One peculiarity of welding and joining technology is that these global systems for quality assurance are being carried out and refined with the corresponding qualification and certification systems in explicitly European and international structures and organisations. Global communication standards and Web-based procedures and, to an increasing extent, Web-based training systems are being utilised in this respect. To this end, standardisation encompassing the following fields is very advantageous and worth striving for: Devices, facilities, filler materials and auxiliary materials for welding and joining. Requirements on plants (ISO 3834) and their personnel (e.g. ISO 9606, ISO 14731 and ISO 14732) performing welding and joining work. Requirements on products which have been welded or have been joined in any other way. Tests and proof of compliance (e.g. ISO 15607 to ISO 15614). For many years, ISO (International Organisation for Standardization) and IIW as the ISO-recognised organisation for the development of ISO standards relating towelding technology have been very successfully drawing up such standards with experts from all the member countries on the expert committees and have regularly adapted them to the changing requirements and conditions. If international harmonisation is not possible, such standards are harmonised in a regional or sectorally specific form, e.g. in Europe in EN standards or in the aerospace or automobile industry. In the wake of advancing cross-border fabrication, joining technology should be applied with uniform regulation all over the world if at all possible, without restraining competition ( see Chapter 7 ).

Consequences Particularly for welding technology, the above statements result in two consequences:

1. The manufacture of high-quality welding machines and installations requires extremely highly qualified personnel and, with great fabrication depth, is often carried out in medium-sized enterprises. Attempts to relocate such fabrication to low-wage countries have failed time and again particularly because of quality imperfections. With regard to the manufacture of welding filler materials (especially of covered or flux-cored wire electrodes), additional factors are that a constant quality of the input materials must be absolutely safeguarded and that the production takes place on very complex installations in highly automated processes.

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Through Optimum Use and Innovation of Welding and Joining Technologies

Improving Global Quality of Life