Welding

Back to the front: Getting the best out of welding gases

After many years, Air Liquide returned to National Manufacturing Week (NMW) in 2019. Manufacturers’ Monthly speaks to Arnaud Voisin, marketing manager of Air Liquide Australia, about the buzz around its booth.

Air Liquide wanted to demonstrate the simplicity of the installation by bringing their 3000 litre Skid Tank to the show.

2019 has been significant for Air Liquide in Australia because they have decided to announce their return to centre stage with a large booth at the recent NMW 2019 in May. The company decided that the timing was right to come back to the fore. This is because they believed that it was the right time and platform to let Australian manufacturers know of its innovations and products which can save their operations time and money. In addition, showcasing at NMW is a great opportunity to discuss with field workers, listen to its customers’ pain points and get feedback on its product and service offerings. It was also a great time for Air Liquide’s experts to demonstrate their value and discuss about the company’s latest innovations used by manufacturers worldwide.

The differentiating factor Air Liquide sees the shielding gases for arc welding differently. In the 1990s, the company launched ARCAL, its premium innovative gas product line for arc welding. The aim was to achieve for “Quality in Every Dimension” through improvement of productivity, quality of the finished product, while prioritising the environment and welder working conditions. Over the years, ARCAL has gained the trust of welders and now, in a market featuring a multitude of similar products, Air Liquide aims at going further by helping its customers with a smarter offer. The company believes that this “smarter” offer does not have to be complex, according to Arnaud Voisin, marketing manager of Air Liquide Australia.

“Actually, simple is a lot smarter. It’s only then that our customers can concentrate on the issues that truly count to their welding operations. This includes ensuring the confidence that comes with a gas solution that’s reliable, simple and always high performing,” Voisin told Manufacturers’ Monthly. In this respect, Voisin points out that Air Liquide offers four high-performing argon/ CO2 mixtures: Prime, Chrome, Speed and Force – these fulfil all TIG, MIG, MAG and Plasma welding needs on carbon steel, stainless steel and light alloys. These four ready-to-weld argon mixtures cover practically any welding situation or circumstance. Each one is designed to be reliable, simple and high-performing each and every time, no matter when, where or how much is needed.

However, if that little bit extra is required, especially when the circumstance demands a product ready for particular high-end specifications, Air Liquide has its technical line of products, which includes specific shielding mixtures designed for refined needs and performance. These are of course, recommended after technical discussion with the company’s welding experts.

“During the show, we proudly partnered with Kemppi. They used our ARCAL Chrome to perform on-stand welding demos with their welding equipment. We are also very proud to be able to subsequently show to our visitors the resulting clean and bright weld with good wetting thanks to carefully selected CO2 content and low H2O and N2 impurities,” said Voisin.

Safety, savings and other highlights at NMW Voisin said that many visitors were intrigued by Air Liquide’s Skid Tank, which was displayed on site. “It is quite unusual to display a tank of this size. We wanted to demonstrate the simplicity of the installation by bringing our 3,000 litre Skid Tank to the show,” said Voisin.

The Skid Tank is a cryogenic vessel with an integrated ambient vaporiser, which is ready to install with a skid serving as foundation. It is featured with Air Liquide’s new real-time solar-powered DALIA telemetry system, which ensures automatic re-ordering, real-time

Saving time and working safely with the ALTOP’s quick connect.

Welding

consumption and level checking anywhere and at any time.

Voisin explained that this supply mode is particularly adequate for large volume consumption of pure nitrogen or oxygen during laser cutting operations to replace cylinder packs – something that can be costly.

“Large workshops should also consider this supply mode for welding, not only when using pure argon shielding gas, but also for argon mixtures which can be supplied by mixing onsite pure argon and CO2 with our Dynamic Onsite Mixer. The typical consumption that the Skid Tank can be an economical solution for is between 400 and 4,000 Nm3/month. However, this has to be assessed on a case-by-case basis,” said Voisin.

Air Liquide also received many questions from visitors about their displayed SMARTOP and ALTOP cylinder tops. Their onsite experts took this opportunity to discuss safety with visiting welders. Although most workers know that safety is paramount during welding and oxy-fuel cutting operations, the risks related to pressurised gases are usually underestimated. “Unfortunately, it is still common to see unstrapped cylinders in operations or cylinders being moved without gloves. This event (NMW 2019) was an occasion for us to remind our visitors of the risks related to highpressure. Argon may be an inert gas, but a 200-bar cylinder becomes a rocket when it is falling and breaking,” said Voisin.

To ensure safety and efficiency, Air Liquide has decided to equip all its ARCAL cylinders with the SMARTOP valve. This is an on-off lever replacing the manual rotating valve to quickly shut down the flow in case of accidental release. It features a permanent content gauge and an ergonomic cap protecting the valve in case of a fall.

There were also a number of existing customers who came by to tell Air Liquide how much time they had saved by using the ALTOP, which is the integrated regulator premium top. “I remember this particular existing customer of ours, the manager of a welding workshop near Melbourne, telling me ‘You can’t imagine how much time I have gained in my welding workshop thanks to this feature! There is no need to constantly unscrew and screw back regulators and, with the quick connect inlet, it is so simple!’ It was very rewarding for us to know that we can bring this type of efficiency to a customer,” said Voisin.

At the booth, visiting tradies and home welders were also interested to know more about ALbee, which is Air Liquide’s “Buy your own” cylinder offer.

“There are numerous companies which offer small businesses to buy their own cylinders of argon, oxygen or acetylene, but with standard manual valves. Air Liquide, on the other hand, provides peace of mind and ready-to-operate cylinders equipped with our MINITOP and its integrated regulator and quick-connect features,” said Voisin.

The takeaway from NMW 2019? Voisin said that throughout the duration of the event, there was non-stop traffic through the booth and that Air Liquide had

ARCAL Speed and ARCAL Force: two complementary solutions for MAG welding of carbon steel.

generated nearly a hundred business opportunities together with countless inspiring interactions with welders, workshop managers, engineers, and tradies.

“It was also such a pleasure for our teams to network and exchange with other exhibitors. Finally, we received visits from many university students eager to understand more about the physics of the Skid Tank or the role of gases in additive manufacturing,” said Voisin.

“So, it was not only a successful presentation of our solutions to manufacturers, but we may also have triggered one or two callings to come and work at Air Liquide as graduate engineers. In other words, it was a great success!”

Air Liquide had a wide range of products and services that visiting tradies and welders were very interested to find out more about.

Events

National Manufacturing Summit: Skills for the Future

The summit will discuss strategies for growing a skilled workforce.

What to expect from the upcoming National Manufacturing summit.

WELD Australia is pleased to announce that it will once again host the National Manufacturing Summit. The 2019 National Manufacturing Summit will see a diverse group of industry stakeholders assemble in Melbourne to tackle key issues facing the Australian manufacturing industry. The Summit will be held on Thursday, 22 August at the Australian Synchrotron.

With the theme of “Skills for the Future”, The National Manufacturing Summit gathers leading representatives from all the major stakeholders in Australia’s manufacturing sector— business, unions, universities, the financial sector, suppliers, and government—to discuss the sector’s prospects, and identify key actions to leverage the opportunities currently available in the manufacturing sector.

The Summit is designed as an event for anyone with a vested interest in manufacturing, skills, training and apprenticeships.

Manufacturing skills are in demand in industries that are experiencing heavy investment.

Theme: “Skills for the Future” Australia requires a significant increase in skilled, qualified trades workers to meet future demand on major projects in industries as diverse as defence, shipbuilding, aerospace, infrastructure, rolling stock, and resources. The manufacturing sector is experiencing a period of sustained growth, and industry participants continue to cite workforce capability as an ongoing challenge. Finding and retaining skilled workers is front of mind, as is maintaining currency of skills and knowledge.

At the same time, a decade of state and federal government policies has diminished the role of the vocational education and training (VET) sector and, in particular, TAFE.

Having an appropriately sized, skilled, readily-available workforce at the right time is key to delivering the major projects on the horizon. Developing this workforce presents a complex and long-term challenge—it requires a significant amount of individual training and company up-skilling to meet global standards. A targeted strategy for workforce development is crucial and will

require the manufacturing industry and the VET sector to work together to ensure its success.

Delivering the right training and education and ensuring that the right pathways are available for people to transition from training into work are vital. Industry input can lead to more strategic and targeted interventions to align the training system with industry needs. As such, the manufacturing industry can help facilitate information sharing and collaboration between government, employers, and training providers. According to Geoff Crittenden, CEO of Weld Australia, this is certainly the case throughout the Australian welding industry. “One of the biggest challenges the Australian fabrication industry is facing is a shortage of qualified welders certified as ‘gate ready’ for ship, submarine and land vehicle manufacture. This is compounded by a lack of appropriate Australian Standards and a framework for qualification and certification of welders.”

Events

“Welder training in Australia is outdated and underfunded. The TAFE welding course and curriculum was last amended in 1995 and bears no relation to what is actually required by industry. In fact, in terms of welder training, nothing much has changed in over 130 years,” said Crittenden. Perhaps most importantly, technical training requires a shift in thinking and a focus on the skills that will be essential to the manufacturing industry of the future, such as automation, robotics, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing processes.

The technological change throughout the manufacturing industry is progressing rapidly, necessitating the acquisition of complex, high order technical knowledge and skills. This suggests a need for robust, deep and transferrable qualifications that provide a strong base for life-long learning and skill development. Equally, a strong culture of training and development in Australian manufacturing workplaces is essential. Government, industry and education all play a role in solving this complex, long-term challenge, and in attracting, skilling, and retaining workers.

The Summit will explore the theme “Skills for the Future” and will highlight the importance of a skilled workforce capable of competing at an international level. Delegates will hear from leading experts from the manufacturing, training and skills sectors on what they can do now to future proof their organisations, as well as themselves.

Program Highlights The 2019 Summit speaker program is being developed with the intent of facilitating a progressive, constructive, and forward-looking discussion on key issues relating to skills and training that affects the manufacturing industry in Australia right now. The focus will be on how industry and the skills and training sector can work together with governments, industry bodies and other stakeholders to deliver actionable, practical solutions. The speakers already confirmed include: • The Hon. Gayle Tierney (Victorian Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education) • Chris Brugeaud (CEO, SSS Manufacturing) • Geoff Crittenden (CEO, Weld Australia) • Dr Jens Goennemann (Managing Director, Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC)) • Jim Stanford (Director, Centre for Future Work) • Craig Robertson (CEO, TAFE Directors Australia)

The Summit will discuss the needs for skills adapted for the future of manufacturing.

• Adrian Boden (Executive Director, SEMMA) • Professor Michelle Gee (Director, Sir Lawrence Wackett Centre)

Venue: The Australian Synchrotron The Australian Synchrotron is a major research facility located in Clayton—a technology and innovation hub of southeast Melbourne. It is one of Australia’s most significant pieces of scientific infrastructure.

The Australian Synchrotron produces powerful beams of light that are used at individual experimental facilities to examine the molecular and atomic details of a wide range of materials. The advanced techniques are applied to research in many important areas including health and medical, food, environment, biotechnology, nanotechnology, energy, mining, agriculture, advanced materials and cultural heritage.

Delegates will have the opportunity to tour the facilities at The Australian Synchrotron as part of the Summit program of events.

The Summit will begin with a welcome dinner on Wednesday, August 21 before a full day’s program of events on August 22. The Summit is co-sponsored by the AMCG, the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work, TAFE Directors Australia, Australian Super and Innovation & Business Skills Australia.

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