Australian Welding September 2021

AUSTRALIAN

WELDING Australian Cobotics Centre:

Safer, More Efficient, Globally Competitive Manufacturing Industry Page 18

Women in Welding:

Meet Bec Cameron, Emily Giezen & Carley Attard Pages 24, 38 & 42

ARM Hub

Helping Unlock the Potential of Australian Manufacturing Page 40

Q3 | September 2021 Official Journal of Weld Australia weldaustralia.com.au

Q3 | September 2021

1

Weld Australia’s Value Proposition

Delivering Value to Members

Weld Australia Contacts National Office PO Box 197 Macquarie Park BC NSW 1670 02 8748 0100 office@weldaustralia.com.au

2

Training Guy Brooks Training Manager 0488 743 322 g.brooks@weldaustralia.com.au

Chief Executive Officer Geoff Crittenden 02 8748 0100 g.crittenden@weldaustralia.com.au

Marketing Disha Mistry Graduate Marketing Assistant 497497424 d.mistry@weldaustralia.com.au

Engineering Victor Blain Engineering Team Manager 0409 823 991 v.blain@weldaustralia.com.au

Membership Eva Chun Membership Manager 0417 878 104 e.chun@weldaustralia.com.au

Australian Welding

Qualification & Certification Arya Sharifian Qualification and Certification Team Manager 0419 414 901 a.sharifian@weldaustralia.com.au Subscription to Australian Welding is a Weld Australia member benefit included in annual membership fees. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or copied in any form without the written permission of Weld Australia. Weld Australia and its agents are not responsible for statements or opinions expressed by contributors in this publication, which are not necessarily those of Weld Australia. Publication of any advertisement does not constitute endorsement by Weld Australia of any product, nor warrant its suitability.

September 2021 Contents

Image courtesy of Parks and Wildlife Service Western Australia.

A Message From Weld Australia’s President A Message From Weld Australia’s CEO

04 06

Inside the Industry Breaking News

08 Keeping Australian Welders Safe: Free Safety Resources 12 The Changing Face of Australian Standards 14 Business Essentials: How to Develop a Business Plan 16 Australian Cobotics Centre: Safer, More Efficient, Globally Competitive Manufacturing Industry 18 An Update from Weld Australia’s Hotline 23 Women in Welding: Bec Cameron 24 Schlam Aims Higher, Making Mining Equipment More Productive 26 Lessons Learnt: How to Control Weld Heat Affected Zone Hardness Levels 28 RUD Australia Certified to AS/NZS ISO 3834 30 From Start to Finish: BRE Engineering Delivers End-To-End Solutions 32 Voortman Beamline Delivers Fresh Opportunities for Hanlon Industries 34 DVR Becomes an Industry Trailblazer with DIN 2303 Certification 36 Women in Welding: Emily Giezen 38 ARM Hub is Helping Unlock the Potential of Australian Manufacturing 40 Women in Welding: Carley Attard 42

18

34

Inside Weld Australia News & Insights into Weld Australia’s Training & Certification 44 All the News from Weld Australia’s Advanced Welder Training Centres 46 An Update from Weld Australia’s Technology Networks 48 Weld Australia Member Directory 50 Fusion Welding Courses 51

40

Stay Connected: Never Miss Another Update

Q3 | September 2021

3

A Message from Weld Australia’s President: David Lake On behalf of the Weld Australia Board of Directors and the entire Weld Australia team, I would like to send a message of support to all of our members.

We know that the industry is facing uncertainty and challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is particularly true for many of our members in New South Wales and Victoria where ongoing lockdowns are having a huge impact on workplaces, employees and our families.

Encouragingly, with vaccination numbers increasing rapidly, there is brightness on the horizon. This is a big step towards ‘normality’ as we start to live in the new CovidSafe world.

In addition, most of our members appear to have a strong pipeline of work (buoyed by factors like increased infrastructure spending and a move towards the onshoring of work in the wake of uncertain international supply chains and freight).

That is not to say that other challenges have not presented themselves over the last few months.

One key challenge is a severe shortage of labour, which Geoff Crittenden, our Chief Executive Officer, addresses in his Message on the following page.

Another key challenge is workplace morale and motivation, and the mental fitness of our workforce.

Public safety measures like social distancing have been critical to fighting the COVID-19 virus.

However, social distancing and lack of face-toface contact can take a toll in other ways, leaving many people feeling lonely and isolated. With many parents juggling additional responsibilities of home schooling with work, stress and anxiety levels are high. Business owners and managers are having to navigate these situations without a handbook, taking on more responsibility themselves.

Associations are made to support their members during hard times – and this is one of the hardest times many Australians have ever faced. Weld Australia is your association. We are here to support and assist you, wherever we can. If you need help or advice, please reach out. If we cannot help, then we will do our best to put you in touch with someone who can.

I’d like to remind all our members that Weld Australia has partnerships in place two leading mental fitness organisations: Gotcha4Life and Man

4

Australian Welding

Image: David Lake (President, Weld Australia).

Anchor. Both of these organisations have a range of resources available, including the delivery of presentations, workshops and training.

If you, or your workplace, could use some extra help in this area, please contact Donna South (National Manager Membership and Marketing, Weld Australia) on d.south@weldaustralia.com.au.

As members of the Weld Australia community, we need to work together to help each other and to make the best of the situation that we possibly can. The more we work together, the better the outcome can be for the industry as a whole.

As a Weld Australia member, your opinions are sought after and appreciated – we value member feedback and refer to it regularly in the planning and development of our services, training courses, programs and events.

So, if you have any feedback for us—whether it’s suggestions for future events, or ways in which Weld Australia could help the welding community in the wake of COVID-19—please let us know.

I’d like to thank all of our members for their ongoing support, particularly all those members who regularly contribute to our success, such as the hard-working members of our local committees.

The Weld Australia community is only as strong as its members.

THE NEW BENCHMARK FOR STRUCTURAL STEEL & GENERAL FABRICATION

3 Industry 4.0 digital system with Lorch Connect big data management 3 Advanced speed processes for GMAW (MIG-MAG) & FCAW delivering up to 30% productivity gains 3 NFC Technology for shop floor quality control 3 Future proof upgradability 3 Extensive range: 300 to 500A, compact & remote, air & water cooled 3 Next generation inverter technology made in Germany The Lorch MicorMIG and MicorMIG Pulse series set the new standard in welding for structural steel and general fabrication. Fully optimised for Australian and New Zealand conditions, their high efficiency resonance inverter makes these machines the most technologically advanced GMAW (MIG-MAG) and FCAW systems on the planet, further enhanced with the addition of Lorch Wi-Fi Connect technology for big data management. These cutting edge capabilities drive shop floor productivity, efficiency and quality control.

Dependable, robust and simple to operate, these are premium examples of German engineering quality and performance.

MicorMIG is the future proof platform for production welding enterprises; an all-rounder for every application that just makes good commercial sense.

Listen to what our customers have to say: Major heavy engineering fabricator Genis Steel SA, “After reviewing the various brands and technologies we standardised on Lorch, the best welding technology in the world from Germany. The highly efficient MicorMIG 400A and 500A platforms are the perfect all-round machines for structural steel fabrication.

They are simple to operate and give us the welding process flexibility combined with perfect welding quality and high productivity all the time”.

Vince Manuele, Managing Director SA. For further information please contact: NSW ALLWELD SERVICES East Maitland • Beresfield • Muswellbrook 1300 663 888 SOUTHERN CROSS INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES 02 6040 1991 DAY’S INDUSTRIAL 02 4274 6488 QLD GLOBAL WELDING SUPPLIES Brisbane 07 3271 2577 • Mt. Isa 07 4743 3377 • Gladstone 07 4976 9800 Mackay 07 4952 1877 • Townsville 07 4755 0850 • Cairns 07 4033 0411 SA WELDING EQUIPMENT SALES & SERVICE 08 8243 2200 SOUTHERN CROSS INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES 08 8277 6288 AD4495_AustWeld_6.21

VIC DANDY GAS 03 9794 6287 THE WELD SPOT 03 5135 3000 WA WESTERN WELDING SERVICES 08 9418 4511 NEW ZEALAND WELDING ENGINEERS (NZ) LTD 09 634 1949 ARC WELDING & SAFETY SUPPLIES 07 847 7870 WELDWORX INDUSTRIAL WELDING SUPPLIES LTD 03 365 5505

www.lorch.eu Q3 | September 2021

5

A Message from Weld Australia’s CEO: Geoff Crittenden Like every industry across the globe, Australia’s welding industry is feeling the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to feedback from our members, the key challenge being faced across the industry is a shortage of labour, from Welding Supervisors and Inspectors, right through to welders.

Finding competent, skilled, experienced welders is becoming more and more difficult.

thinking than today. It’s vital that Australia keeps pace with technological change to advance its economy and prosperity.

Welders are more in demand than ever with several large-scale, high-value projects on the horizon, from the Federal Government’s $90 billion Naval Shipbuilding Program, through to major infrastructure projects such as the $12 billion Sydney Metro project, and the $5 billion Melbourne Airport Rail Link.

Our young people need to acquire complex, high order technical knowledge and skills. They need robust, deep and transferrable qualifications that provide a strong base for life-long learning and skill development. Kids need STEM skills.

And yet, the number of welding trade workers in Australia dropped by 8 per cent in the course of just five years; from 75,800 in 2014 to 69,600 in 2019. In addition, completion rates of welding apprenticeships, including a Certificate III in Engineering (Fabrication Trade), continue to fall by as much as 23 per cent annually.

We need a vibrant STEM program implemented across schools nationally so that children and parents alike understand the opportunities available—the future of employment in industries like welding is not hard, dirty work carried out in a dark workshop, it’s focused on IT and programming skills, using robots and co-bots, and implementing Industry 4.0 concepts.

This shortage of welders has been exacerbated by a lack of short-term workers and immigrants, with our international borders closed due to COVID-19.

Members have reported that there simply isn’t the same labour pool available to complete work.

Innovative STEM Programs in High Schools One way to combat the lack of understanding around STEM career opportunities is through innovative STEM programs in high schools.

The Skills of the Future This skills shortage is not a problem that can be resolved in the short term. Weld Australia is working on several initiatives designed to bridge this skills gap.

One initiative is innovative STEM programs in high schools that expose students to the opportunities offered by a career in welding.

In June 2020, the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education and Training (DET) commenced a pilot program to teach welding to students in Years 10 to 12 studying Manufacturing and Engineering, and Industrial Technology. The program utilised cutting-edge training techniques, including the use of 32 augmented reality welding simulators and innovative teacher training delivered by Weld Australia.

STEM skills are crucial to the changing nature of work. Digital technology is now a part of our everyday lives, and is impacting the world of work in ways never experienced before.

According to the Federal Government’s Department of Education, Skills and Employment, it’s predicted that future workers will spend more than twice as much time on job tasks requiring science, maths and critical

6

Attracting and retaining younger talent while they are at high school, and then through engaging, wellfunded training and apprenticeships is critical to combatting the severe skills shortage.

Australian Welding

Based on the success of the pilot program, NSW DET ordered a further 20 simulators to be rolled out across another 10 high schools in regional NSW. Weld Australia is working with the Western Australia, Queensland and Tasmania Governments on similar STEM programs.

Women in Welding An added bonus of the STEM program is that the use

of augmented reality welding simulators encourages girls to try welding. Currently only 1% of welders are women. If this could be increased to 10% it would go a long way to ameliorating the impending skills shortage.

To this end, Weld Australia is participating in a Women Who Weld Program facilitated by the Queensland Manufacturing Institute (QMI). The Program aims to increase gender diversity and participation in manufacturing careers. It provides the opportunities for female high school students in years 10, 11 and 12 to gain insight into trade skills and career pathways, including local employment opportunities.

Indigenous Welders Another innovative welder recruitment program in which Weld Australia is involved is Indigenous Welding Australia—a partnership of Weld Australia, the Indigenous Defence and Infrastructure Consortium (IDIC) and IPS Management Consultants.

It was formed in 2018 to establish a national network of Indigenous Welding Academies focused on delivering welding training backed by specialist pastoral care: ‘For Indigenous people by Indigenous people’. Graduates of the program will be placed in employment with defence primes or local industry through our Indigenous partners. Our principle industry partner is BAE (Shipbuilding).

Industry Participation There is no question that STEM education and careers advice must be improved. But industry cannot continue to rely on Government to solve the problem.

There also needs to be a ‘pull’ strategy that engages students through close collaboration between schools and companies.

Weld Australia member, Precision Metal Group (PMG) is a strong advocate for this type of ‘pull’ strategy.

In 2020, PMG began partnering with Parramatta Marist High School to develop a metals and welding program. The program is fostering STEM skills so that students are better prepared to contribute to Australia’s rapidly growing advanced fabrication and manufacturing industries.

The shared vision is to have more and more students exposed to the industry, and certified as armoured vehicle welders before they graduate from Parramatta

Marist, providing them with pathways supported by a skill set in demand by the Australian Defence Force.

To begin, Year 10 iSTEM students rotate through fortnightly two hour welding core skills workshops, while self-nominated students undertake intensive welding training at PMG’s facility in Wetherill Park.

Australian welding and fabrication businesses need to invest in the future of their own workforces and play an active role in the training of welding apprentices.

Australia will need an additional 28,000 welders by 2030 based on the existing pipeline of work. Industry has a vital part to play in filling these roles. Industry needs to spend more time developing apprentices— it’s no good expecting kids who have only just finished TAFE to be welding experts.

TAFE Welding Curriculum With these programs gaining traction in the recruitment of new welders, welding curriculum at TAFEs must concentrate on the skills that will be essential to the future of industry. These skills must be focused on advancements such as automation, robotics, artificial intelligence, big data, and advanced manufacturing processes. It is these skills that will see Australian industry continue its push into high-quality, complex manufacturing.

As such, Weld Australia is working with the National TAFE Consortium on creating a set of national resources mapped to the national MEM training package, so that learning resources for trade students are consistent across the country. This will help ensure consistent training, regardless of where in the country students undertake that training.

The new resources are completely online and accessible via phone, mobile device or computer.

This will allow students to access learning at the time, place and pace that suits them best. We are very excited about the project and are already seeing some great results.

Technical training is absolutely key to the future prosperity of Australia. Australia’s capacity to deliver major projects relies heavily on our ability to train highly skilled tradesmen and technicians who are qualified to deliver the projects. TAFEs, the curriculum they teach, and the learning resources that have access to, play a crucial role in this.

Q3 | September 2021

7

Breaking News BlueScope Releases Climate Action Report BlueScope recently released its first Climate Action Report, which sets out the company’s strategy and plans to address the decarbonisation challenge.

BlueScope is driving towards ‘net zero carbon emissions by 2050’, covering direct (Scope 1) and indirect (Scope 2) emissions across its operational footprint. Achieving this goal is highly dependent on several enablers, including the commerciality of emerging and breakthrough technologies, availability of affordable and reliable renewable energy and hydrogen, availability of quality raw materials and appropriate public policy settings.

To generate momentum towards achieving their 2050 net zero goal, BlueScope has two mid-term 2030 targets. In 2018, BlueScope set a mediumterm steelmaking emissions intensity reduction target of 12% by 2030. This broadly translates to a 1% year on year improvement target.

BlueScope is now introducing a new target of a 30% improvement in non-steelmaking greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 2030. The target will cover the company’s midstream activities (cold rolled, metal coating and painting lines and long and hollow products), while downstream activities will be covered by the 2050 net zero goal. This brings total coverage of BlueScope’s 2030 targets to 98% of their total Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

BlueScope will allocate up to $150 million over the next five years to fund its climate-related technology plan that seeks to optimise current operating assets and prepare for emerging and breakthrough technologies. Download a copy of BlueScope’s Climate Action Report.

Alstom Brings Train Manufacturing Back to Life in Western Australia Alstom recently commenced operations at METRONET’s brand-new train manufacturing facility in Perth, Western Australia (WA). The project will create around 200 jobs in the manufacturing, testing, commissioning and maintenance of 41 six-car electric (EMU) and two three-car diesel (DMU) trains. The contract also includes 20 years maintenance of the EMU trains and maintenance support services for the DMU trains.

The fleet of 43 trains will be built with the support of a thriving ecosystem of local suppliers, contractors and equipment vendors. Alstom has committed to 50% local content for the vehicles, bringing additional flow on benefits beyond the delivery of the trains to the WA economy.

According to Mark Coxon (Managing Director, Alstom Australia and New Zealand), “Alstom is delighted to begin operating METRONET’s brand-new train manufacturing facility in Bellevue, revitalising the rail industry in Western Australia.

Over the coming weeks we will begin ramping up the production of these new trains in line with our commitment to deliver the latest rolling stock and maintenance technologies and develop the next generation of local, world-class railway manufacturing professionals.”

The project will see the transfer of the latest railway technologies and manufacturing processes to WA, establishing one of the most technologically advanced train manufacturing and maintenance sites in Australia. Alstom will provide fast-tracked training programs through dedicated partnerships with local TAFE and training organisations.

Image: The opening of Alstom’s new facility in Perth.

8

Australian Welding

Infrastructure Australia Publishes 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan Infrastructure Australia recently published the 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan, calling for a new wave of infrastructure reform to fully leverage the Federal Government’s $110 billion infrastructure spend.

The 2021 Plan provides Australia’s infrastructure sector with a 15-year roadmap to drive economic growth, maintain and enhance Australia’s standard of living, and improve the resilience and sustainability of essential infrastructure.

Infrastructure Australia Chief Executive, Romilly Madew, said, “The 2021 Australian Infrastructure Plan is being delivered at a critical moment in our history. The pandemic, bushfires, drought, floods, and cyber-attacks have tested our collective resilience during recent years, while the most recent outbreaks have devastated our CBDs and put us at risk of a recession.”

Download a copy of the 2021 Plan here.

Curtin University Purchases LaserBond® Laser Metal Deposition System LaserBond has successfully executed an agreement with Curtin University in Western Australia for the design, construction and supply of a LaserBond® Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) system.

With the collaboration of LaserBond, the system will provide Curtin with flexibility to provide research, training, demonstration and delivery of complex 3D metal printing, laser additive manufacturing, laser cladding, laser welding, and laser heat treating, with associated materials development.

Wayne Hooper (CEO, LaserBond), said, “Curtin is the largest university in WA with a strong focus on industry collaboration and partnerships, especially with the energy and resource sectors. It is an ideal partner for LaserBond to strengthen its research and development of applications and materials for these sectors, as well as providing a showcase for our technology in the resource rich state of Western Australia.”

Register on the AWCR Today How to Register 1. Go to awcr.org.au 2. Click on ‘Click Here to Register’ 3. Click on ‘Create An Account’ 4. Enter your contact details 5. Verify your email address 6. Login and complete your profile The Australian Welder Certification Register (AWCR) was developed and is managed by Weld Australia. It provides a national framework for qualifying and testing welders to International Standard AS/NZS ISO 9606-1, and provides a raft of benefits for welders and industry alike.

(02) 8748 0100

|

awcr.org.au

|

AWCR

Australian Welder Certification Register

awcr@weldaustralia.com.au

|

weldaustralia.com.au Q3 | September 2021 9

Breaking News Austal Australia to Bid for $1 Billion Guided Missle Enterprise Austal Australia has joined a consortium of Australian defence industry partners, academia and government organisations to support a new collaboration platform, the Australian Missile Corporation (AMC). The aim of AMC is to establish a sovereign guided missile manufacturing enterprise in Australia.

AMC is a wholly owned subsidiary of NIOA, the largest Australian-owned supplier of weapons and munitions to the Australian Defence Force. Austal Australia joins a number of companies collaborating with the AMC; including Quickstep, Moog Australia, Black Sky Aerospace, and Thomas Global Systems.

Austal Chief Executive Officer, Paddy Gregg, said the collaboration with AMC was yet another example of how Austal is working with defence industry partners to build sovereign capability in Australia. “Austal has a proven track record of effective collaboration with not only Australian industry, but academia and government, to deliver effective defence capability, such as the current Guardian and Evolved Cape-class Patrol Boat Programs; and we’re proud to support the Australian Missile Corporation’s bid to establish a sovereign missile manufacturing enterprise here in Australia,” said Gregg.

Image: Guardian-class Patrol Boat designed and constructed

by Austal in Henderson. Image courtesy of Austal Australia.

10

Australian Welding

Navantia Australia Delivers Australian Sovereign Sustainment Capability to Navy Navantia Australia has upped the ante in predictive maintenance and defect analysis with the recent installation of a Through Life Support Facility at Garden Island East in Sydney.

Navantia Australia’s Through Life Support Facility is a multipurpose open architecture system that enables the testing and development of hardware and software to be conducted on-shore.

It replicates the IPMS hardware and software installed on-board the Canberra Class Landing Helicopter Docks and Supply Class Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment ships and is a key enabler for the optimisation of maintenance and platform availability through the capture and analysis of real data from the ships and proactive obsolescence management.

Navantia Australia’s Managing Director, Israel Lozano Barragán, said the installation of the Through Life Support Facility is another step forward in delivering Australian sovereign sustainment capability. “The ability to maintain design integrity, configuration control, upgrades and modernisation of all Navantia designed ships and supplied systems and equipment, including the IPMS, in Australia is a key capability developed in Navantia Australia to support CASG and the Royal Australian Navy’s fleet,” said Barragán.

Image courtesy of Navantia.

Bisalloy Receives First Armour Steel Order from Rheinmetall for LAND400 Phase 2 Bisalloy Steels is pleased to announce the receipt of a significant order from Rheinmetall for highly specialised BISALLOY® Armour steel.

BISALLOY® Armour steel was developed by Bisalloy to meet the protection levels required for the BOXER 8×8 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles (CRV) and tested and certified by the German Government and the BAAINBw (German Government testing authority) in collaboration with Rheinmetall Defence Australia. It will be used for Rheinmetall’s BOXER 8×8 CRV in the LAND400 Phase 2 program.

This first purchase order marks Bisalloy’s firm presence in the German defence prime contractor’s global supply chain, and follows the successful completion of an extensive testing and evaluation program.

Bisalloy and Rheinmetall began collaborating in 2017. Since then, the two companies have strengthened their relationship through a teaming agreement covering research and development, reciprocal technical visits, technical discussions, and the sharing of information.

Glenn Cooper (CEO and Managing Director, Bisalloy) said, “This is an important milestone for Bisalloy as a supplier to Rheinmetall, and as a supplier to the LAND400 Phase 2 program.”

“Rheinmetall is an important and strategic customer for Bisalloy, and the engagement between our two companies over the past years is a testament to the commitment our company has to these important defence programs and demonstrates our commitment to building sovereign capabilities within Australia,” said Cooper.

TERRA & URANOS The New Reference in Welding Machines.

Your challenge is to JOIN materials made of metal. You know how to weld constructions for bridges, machines and power plants. In your job you do not need “a” solution, YOU DESERVE the best. Our offering includes a unique portfolio of welding application services, high end welding consumables, accessories and welding machines – we are your Full Welding Solution Provider.

Scan for more information

Image: The BOXER 8×8 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle.

Image courtesy of Bisalloy.

voestalpine Böhler Welding www.voestalpine.com/welding

Q3 | September 2021

11

Health & Safety: Keeping Australian Welders Safe: Free Safety Resources Welding is a safe occupation when proper precautions are taken. But, if safety measures are ignored, welders face a range of potentially dangerous hazards that can cause electric shock, or even a fatality. In light of this, Weld Australia recently released Technical Guidance Note: Welding Electrical Safety: Electric Shock Injury and Electrocution Reporting to help keep Australian welders safe at work.

Within the last month alone, Weld Australia was enlisted to investigate two separate accidents that saw inexperienced welders sustain serious electric shocks. In both instances, the young men were hospitalised for assessment. While both men made a full recovery, this was more by luck than judgement.

The first electric shock occurred during the arc start process, with the welder using high frequency TIG. Several conditions combined to create a highly dangerous situation. The welder was wearing inappropriate clothing and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including a defective glove, and the return lead was connected to an old, rusty workbench. So, when the welder leant on the workbench, he unintentionally became a part of the circuit, which had 6,000 volts coursing through it.

The second safety incident that Weld Australia investigated could have easily resulted in a fatality.

Another inexperienced welder was TIG welding and it appears that the filler rod made contact with the live tungsten electrode. At the time of the incident, the welder reported an electric shock in his left forearm, with the point of the current return path unknown. A week later, the welder reported cramplike pains in both his left arm and left leg, suggesting that the return path was via his left leg. In Weld Australia’s opinion, this welder is fortunate to still be alive.

Accidents and Serious ‘Near Misses’ on the Rise The problem is, these are not isolated incidents.

Accidents and serious ‘near misses’ are happening in workshops right across Australia every week.

These accidents are less likely to occur in the largescale state-of-the-art workshops owned and run by Australia’s major fabricators—they have in-depth Workplace Health and Safety plans and procedures in place. Rather, these accidents are happening in small welding workshops, car body repair shops,

12

Australian Welding

home garages, and farm sheds. Perhaps most concerning of all, these sorts of safety incidents could well become even more common. According to one of Australia’s major tool retailers, their single largest seller since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has been Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) machines. In all likelihood, these GMAW machines are being purchased by owners of small workshops, tradesmen without welding qualifications, and home DIY enthusiasts—most of whom do not know how to weld, or how to use a GMAW machine properly.

Electrical Safety Precautions in Welding Electrical safety must be taken seriously when welding. Electricity is a vital part of welding work, but when mishandled it can result in serious injury and death. Between 2014 and 2016, 7 people died due to electrocution while working.

According to Safe Work Australia’s Welding Processes Code of Practice, electric shock or electrocution can occur through direct contact with an electrode, live parts, a work piece, or through contact with a device such as an unearthed cable or tool. The risk of electric shock can be exacerbated by moisture and high humidity, both common in welding environments.

Both welding professionals and inexperienced enthusiasts need to familiarise themselves with the processes required to minimise the risk of electric shock. Simple actions such as checking that equipment is dry and well maintained and installing shut down mechanisms such as fuses and low voltage safety switches can save lives. Ensuring that anyone who welds is equipped with the knowledge and safety equipment required is key to preventing serious incidents such as those recently investigated by Weld Australia.

Welding Safety Resources Weld Australia has a wide range of welding safety resources, many of which are available to the

public—completely free of charge.

Technical Note 7: Health and Safety in Welding This Technical Note gives guidance on health and safety practices in welding, cutting and allied processes such as brazing, soldering, pre- and post- weld material treatments and metal spraying, for the prevention of injury, ill health and discomfort, as well as damage to property, equipment and environment by fire, and explosion.

Various Chapters deal with: • Basic principles of safe working • The main hazards and safety measures in welding, cutting and allied processes • Precautions required in particular working situations Technical Note 22: Welding Electrical Safety Although electric arc welding can be performed perfectly safely, there are circumstances when there is a substantial risk of electric shock. Precautions against this risk include use of properly maintained equipment, correct protective equipment and sound work practices.

With reference to Industry best practice, Technical Note 22 addresses how to safeguard a person against electric shock, reviewing elements such as: equipment, the human body, the workplace Australian Standards.

Education is the key to ensuring that anyone who welds is safe. Employers, professional welders and DIY enthusiasts alike must invest in thorough and up-to-date training to ensure an in-depth understanding of the risks associated with welding, the mitigation strategies that can be used, and the equipment available to prevent accident and injury.

If you know someone who is welding without the proper training or experience, be sure to pass along Weld Australia’s free resources. All of these resources are available via the Resource Centre on our website: https://weldaustralia.com.au.

Weld Australia Technical Guidance Note: Welding Electrical Safety: Electric Shock Injury and Electrocution Reporting This Technical Guidance Note contains the pop-out guide and form Welding electric shock injury and electrocution report form as referenced within Weld Australia’s Technical Note 22 Welding electrical safety.

It is designed to help Australian welders and fabricators when investigating welding current related electric shock injuries and incidents, and electrocutions. The forms may be copied and used in the workplace to aid in the implementation of safework practices.

You can download a copy via the Resource Centre on Weld Australia’s website: https://weldaustralia.com.au

Q3 | September 2021

13

The Changing Face of Australian Standards Australian Standards are living documents. They reflect progresses in science, technology and systems. To maintain their relevancy, all Standards are periodically reviewed, with amendments and revised editions published. The last few months have seen several developments, including an urgent review into standards related to rubber hoses for welding, cutting and allied processes, and ongoing reviews into standards related to pressure equipment and steel structures.

Pressure Equipment Committee ME-001 has initiated the revision of AS 1796 Certification of welders and welding supervisors, and a draft has been prepared. Public comment closed on 11 August and the drafting committee is now considering the comments submitted.

As previously reported, users have reported a number of issues with the revised AS 3992 Pressure equipment—Welding and brazing qualification (published in June 2020), and a minor amendment will be required to address the issues raised. The drafting committee has reviewed the issues, and has submitted a draft amendment for consideration

by Standards Australia.

The project proposal for the revision of AS/NZS 3788 Pressure equipment—In‑service inspection has been approved by Standards Australia and it is anticipated that the drafting committee will hold its kick-off meeting in October.

Welding of Structures Following an initial public review, a revised draft of the revision of AS/NZS 1554.2 Structural steel welding—Part 2: Stud welding (steel studs to steel) was sent for further public comment and committee ballot in May. Comments closed on 7 July and are currently being evaluated by the drafting committee.

Design of Steel Lattice Towers and Masts Standards Australia is currently reconstituting Technical Committee BD-073 to undertake the revision of AS 3995:1994 Design of steel lattice towers and masts. Weld Australia has a representative on this technical committee.

14

Australian Welding

Members are encouraged to contribute comments and relevant information about any issues with the current standard, and suggestions for its revision.

Please forward comments to our representative at ashleyharris@utb.com.au. Updates will be provided as the committee’s work progresses.

ISO Update ISO TC44/SC10 has commenced the revision of the ISO 3834 Quality requirements for fusion welding of metallic materials series of standards primarily to take cognisance of changes to ISO 9001 Quality management and the 2019 edition of ISO 14731 Welding coordination — Tasks and responsibilities.

Parts 2 to 4 inclusive of ISO 3834 were published in April, with Parts 1 and 5 due for publication in September. ISO requested that Part 6 be revised to become either an ISO Standard or a technical specification. The drafting committee has commenced work on this request and is converting Part 6 from a Technical Report to a Standard.

TC44/SC10 has also been revising ISO 17660 Welding — Welding of reinforcing steel. This edition is planned to combine the two existing parts into a single document. A DIS ballot review closes in November.

Similarly, ISO TC44/SC11 has commenced the revision of ISO 9606-1 Qualification testing of welders—Fusion welding—Part 1: Steels with the intention of combining all five parts into the one standard. This will simplify the ongoing maintenance and review requirements for the standards as Parts 2 to 5 of ISO 9606-1 are in need of revision. Work has been transferred to a working group and good progress is being made on resolving comments.

Breakaway Force: Min Material Thickness: Dead Weight: Dimensions (LxW):

TMC 70

TMC 300

TMC 600

TMA 600

TMA 600 FXL

MAG-PRY 300

70 kg on 3 mm S235 steel

300kg on 6mm steel

600 kg on 10mm steel S235

2 x 300kg on 6mm S235 steel

2 x 300kg on 6mm S235 steel

300 kg 6mm S235 steel

1 mm

2 mm

2 mm

2 mm

2 mm

2 mm

0.29kg

1 kg

2.6 kg

2.7 kg

4.7 kg

2.27 kg

71 x 51 mm

83 x 80 mm

108 x 105 mm

162 x 124 mm

355 x 145 mm

139 x 564 mm

Q3 | September 2021

15

Business Essentials: How to Develop a Business Plan In the hard and fast world of welding—where materials run hot, an ongoing pipeline of work is crucial, and skilled workers can be scarce—it is essential to take a step back and evaluate the direction of your business from time-to-time. A business plan can be a pivotal tool for future-proofing any business. It provides a strategic direction, and can help transform a company’s vision, clients, operations, and outputs for future success.

What Is a Business Plan?

A business plan is a blueprint for how a business operates, its key clients, financial situation, and areas for future growth and improvement.

In all, a business plan focuses on three key pillars to ensure success: 1. Priorities: These ensure all business directions, strategies and goals are laid out and managed.

Business priorities should be tangible, timesensitive, and solution-focused.

2. Control: Companies should plan ahead and address areas of concern, in order to minimise any future stress or challenges. Remember that you are in control of the business and its future.

3. Finance: When a company’s work pipeline or revenue dries up, a business plan allows a business to swing into action, and consider new revenue streams, an increase in clients, and essential details to show banks or potential investors.

How Do I Start?

Before starting a business plan, some key areas need to be considered: • The business: What is the company’s mission and vision?

• The people: What is the company’s commitment to customers, staff, and other stakeholders?

• The environment: What does the existing working environment include? Who is it catered towards, and are there any areas for change?

The process of answering these questions should

16

Australian Welding

include staff at all levels of the organisation.

The welding and fabrication sector requires a whole-of-organisation approach to restoring and promoting an ongoing pipeline of work. Once these fundamental questions have been answered, it is time to start developing and writing your business plan.

Who Is the Plan For? The first step to developing a business plan is to determine who the plan is for, and what benefits it is to provide. A business plan may be used for internal planning purposes, or as a drawcard for external stakeholders like investors or banks.

You may wish to start with a simple list, or an interactive map of the company’s key objectives, services and clients.

Remember to keep the plan clearly focused on the audience and set tangible targets.

Have You Conducted Research?

The power of research should not be underestimated. Importantly, business owners and managers should conduct an audit of existing organisational processes and strategies that are in place and set clear targets to move forward.

Take the time to evaluate your business structure, operations, services, finances and marketing.

Once you have a clear idea about what the company stands for, and what is involved in the daily operations, it is time to crunch the numbers.

Have You Got a Grip on The Numbers?

As you seek to take on new projects or refinance the business to work with new industries and clients, it is crucial that all company finances are updated. Consider enlisting any external support you might need during this process, like an accountant or a financial planner.

What Should a Business Plan Include?

There are no hard and fast rules about what your business plan should (or should not) cover or the level of detail you need. In general, a business plan usually outlines: •

If you’re looking to attract new clients, investors, or receive a loan from the bank, it is important that you understand how much money you currently have, how much you need and how much you expect to make. Funding will help in the short-term but financial planning for the long-term needs to be realistic and address any unexpected costs.

Business profile: A basic overview of the company; details of financial performance; any licenses, registrations and insurance; details of the support team like lawyers and accountants.

•

Vision, mission and goals: An inspirational description of where you want your business to go that gives direction to employees, and a description of the fundamental purpose of your business.

•

Market research: Detailed analysis of the industry in which your business operates, including competitor analysis.

•

Operational strategy: All the details around the day-to-day operations of your business, from location, premises and equipment, through to suppliers, human resources and environmental management strategies.

•

Products or services: Description of your products or services, including the price range, market position, customer benefits, distribution system any future plans.

•

Marketing plan: Information on how you will market your business, including goals, budget, target market, promotional strategies, and customer service strategy.

•

Financial strategy: Data around your financial goals, forecasts, start-up costs, operating expenses, sales and cash flow forecasts, profit and loss statements, and break-even analysis.

Remember, the backend of the business is just as crucial for attracting new clients and investors as the front-end.

Remember To Review the Plan Once the business plan has been established, it’s important that business owners and their employees abide by the vision, mission, goals and strategies outlined. Your business plan should guide all your actions and decisions. You may wish to update your plan biannually, or make some additional changes depending on the short, medium, and long-term pipeline, incoming clients, and revenue streams.

Further Resources There is a range of online services and support available. For further information and free downloadable templates, please visit: https://business.gov.au/planning/business-plans/ develop-your-business-plan

Q3 | September 2021

17

Australian Cobotics Centre: Safer, More Efficient, Globally Competitive Manufacturing Industry The Australian Cobotics Centre officially opened in August 2021. The Centre is funded for five years as part of the Australian Research Council’s Industrial Transformation Research Program scheme and is focused on collaborative robotics in advanced manufacturing.

The Centre will aim to improve the collaborative robotics capability within Australian manufacturing by training the next generation of manufacturing leaders, researchers, and technicians with collaborative robotics expertise. Headquartered at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), with two other locations at The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and Swinburne University, the Centre is expected to build the human and technical capability needed to underpin Australia’s global competitiveness in advanced manufacturing.

1818

Australian Australian Welding Welding

Automation offers a raft of benefits, from improved productivity, quality and repeatability, through to safer working conditions and greater job satisfaction. Increasingly, advanced technology is becoming a critical factor in the success of globally competitive welders, fabricators and manufacturers.

And yet, Australia’s adoption rates lag well behind other advanced economies.

“Australian manufacturing has an opportunity to be more globally competitive by improving manufacturing processes which lower production costs and boost productivity,” said Roberts.

“The Centre will help industry develop its capability for new forms of human-robot interaction in manufacturing environments, especially as Cobots can be used for low-volume manufacturing tasks.

This will benefit Australian companies (who will win on process innovation and lower costs), manufacturing workers (whose jobs will become safer and higher-skilled), and the economy (through the growth of jobs and exports).”

“The Centre was conceived in 2019 when it became clear that Australia’s manufacturing industry were not embracing the opportunity of collaborative robots at the same rate as some of our global competitors,” said Roberts.

As noted in the recent Federal Government report Australia 2030: Prosperity Through Innovation, Australia leads the world in research in cyberphysical systems, computer vision, field robotics, simulation and robotic vision.

And yet, as a nation, Australia’s adoption rates of robotics and automation are well below our international counterparts—Australia ranks 18th in the world in application of industrial robots.

According to Centre Director, Professor Jonathan Roberts, “The Centre has been established to help the manufacturing industry become more competitive globally by solving some of the problems associated with adopting collaborative robots – which we sometimes call cobots. These are robots that can work closely with people and typically in situations where they can help people avoid dangerous or repetitive actions.”

Automation, robotics and collaborative robots (also known as cobots) are changing the way the welding and manufacturing industries work.

According to a recent report commissioned by Google, automation has the power to deliver a $2.2 trillion boost to Australia’s national income by 2030 from productivity gains. This includes $1 trillion boost from accelerating the rate of automation and a $1.2 trillion boost from transitioning Australia’s workforce to higher skilled occupations.

Australian companies adopt automation technologies at less than half the rate of their Swiss and American counterparts. In Switzerland, over 25% of publicly listed firms engage in automation. In the US, over 20% of publicly listed

What is a Cobot?

Cobots are designed to work alongside human employees, assisting employees with work that may be too dangerous, strenuous, or tedious. This helps to create a safer, more efficient workplace without eliminating jobs.

Cobots are easily programmable and are capable of ‘learning’ on the job. In welding, cobots can be used for several purposes, from joining metal parts and holding parts steady for workers, through to sorting hardware using a vision system.

Q3 | September 2021

19

The Benefits of Cobots Cobots are specifically designed to share the work space with human beings, making automation easier for businesses of all sizes, particularly SMEs. Cobots are generally versatile, lightweight, require relatively little space, and are much easier to program than their industrial counterparts. They can also capture large volumes of data that can be deployed in areas such as predictive maintenance.

Improved Productivity and Profitability Robots and cobots play an essential role in creating lean manufacturing processes, helping reduce or eliminate redundancies, errors, bottlenecks and waste. The right type of technology can help eliminate workflow delays and duplications and accelerate entire processes through the automation of individual tasks.

Superior Quality and Repeatability The integration of cobots into production processes is proven to deliver superior quality outcomes and higher repeatability. Any process that improves weld quality and repeatability is worthwhile. Welding is not just a commodity, or a simple, straightforward process. When welds fail, the results can be disastrous. A poor quality weld can be hugely expensive, and can cause massive damage, injuries, and even fatalities.

Growth in Domestic and Export Markets With increased productivity, quality and repeatability, manufacturers are able to leverage new domestic and export markets. Increases in productivity enable manufactures to deliver on changing customer needs and mass customisation, while maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage.

Safer Working Conditions The use of robots and cobots has the power to improve safety for welders and manufacturing workers. As automation reduces routine, dangerous manual work, workplace injuries are expected to drop by as much as 11%. For instance, the use of robots and co-bots (particularly in confined spaces) helps to remove welders from immediate exposure to welding fumes, ultraviolent radiation, heat and sparks.

Greater Job Satisfaction A move towards the use of robots and cobots will unburden the average Australian of two hours of the most tedious and manual work each week.

Approximately 62% of low-skilled workers will experience improved job satisfaction, and wages for non-automatable work will increase by around 20%. Introduction of cobots into production lines allow businesses to make better use of human skill and innovation, with machines taking over mundane tasks so that employees can focus on critical thinking, quality and creativity.

20

Australian Welding

firms are engaged in automation. Australia lags far behind, with just 9% of firms actively engaged in automation.

China, Korea, Singapore and Japan are making significant national investments in robotics. The Chinese Government has invested an estimated US$100 billion in robotics, with automation technology a focal point of its strategy ‘Made in China 2025’. When the strategy was released in 2015, China set national goals of producing 100,000 industrial robots a year and having 150 robots in operation for every 10,000 employees by 2020.

In Japan, the ‘New Robot Strategy’ aims to make the country the world´s number one robot innovation hub. In the manufacturing sector, Japan has set robotics adoption rate targets of a 25% increase for large-scale companies and 10% for SMEs. Korea’s Intelligent Robot Development and Supply Promotion Act has legislated the development of the local robot industry as a key component of the country’s fourth industrial revolution.

Clearly, this is a missed opportunity for Australia, particularly when accelerating the pace of automation has so much potential to boost our productivity and economic growth. If Australian companies embraced automation to the same extent as companies in the US, for example, labour productivity growth could increase by over 50% to 2.2% by 2030.

The Australian Cobotics Centre will work to accelerate the pace of the adoption of cobots in Australian industry throughout five research programs.

Research Programs The Centre’s research programs address both the technological advances and the human and design factors that need to be considered when implementing collaborative robotics.

Through this research and its implementation, the Centre will support manufacturers in creating a digitally-capable workforce of the future and a safer, more efficient and globally competitive Australian manufacturing industry.

“Our five research programs and their projects have been designed to maximise collaboration between industry partners and across the universities,” said Roberts.

“The goal of the Biomimic Cobots Program is to allow collaborative robots to mimic humans in acquiring perception and awareness, learning, adaptation, and manipulation skills.”

“The Human-Robot Interaction Program addresses how humans are made aware of the movement and intentions of robotic systems, and will look at how to leverage multimodal interaction, including Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, with robotic systems.”

“The aim of the Designing Socio-Technical Robotic Systems Program is to embed holistic design as a critical factor in creating seamless integration of humans and machines working together to improve human work conditions and environments, and increase effectiveness and efficiencies in production, as well as workforce acceptance.”

“The Quality Assurance and Compliance Program

will develop tools for the specification, capturing, monitoring and evaluation of such a digital thread in human-robot and robot-human collaboration scenarios.”

“The Human-Robot Workforce Program aims to answer research questions associated with: future skills and training needs; design and safety of jobs of the future; managing workplace readiness for the successful implementation of collaborative robotics; and the benefits of greater workforce diversity and longevity,” said Roberts.

Industry Collaboration Professor Roberts leads a multidisciplinary team of researchers from QUT, UTS and Swinburne University of Technology. These researchers will work in collaboration with industry partners, including B&R Enclosures, Cook Medical, Weld Australia, InfraBuild, IR4, TU Dortmund University, ARM Hub (Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing.

According to Geoff Crittenden (Chief Executive Officer, Weld Australia), “Together, QUT and Weld Australia are offering practical solutions to industry that flow from the research undertaken at the Australian Robotics Centre. By participating in the program, companies can expect benefits like access to subsidised advanced manufacturing technology designed to solve specific manufacturing problems, enhanced productivity; increased safety, and minimised employee turnover.”

Weld Australia member, IR4 is one of the industry partners that has already come onboard to leverage the benefits offered by the Australian Cobotics Centre. According to Chris Brugeaud (Chief Executive Officer, IR4), IR4 is involved with Centre

Q3 | September 2021

21

“

Our business requires an element of R&D activity. Without some sort of support from existing research institutions, we wouldn’t have the commercial justification or imperative—this is a key driver for our engagement in the Australian Cobotics Centre,” said Brugeaud.

because the commercial opportunities and benefits were too great to pass up.

“IR4 provides flexible automation solutions to various market segments that seek to leverage Industry 4.0 technologies, as well as machine learning and Artificial Intelligence,” said Brugeaud.

“What we’ve seen, as we move further into these solutions, is that customer demands related to robotic cells and the role of their operators are ever increasing. So, we’ve been working with QUT for a number of years seeking to understand the opportunities where we could collaborate on cobotic solutions, predominately in defence. The goal was for us to provide our smart automation solutions and QUT to provide the human intent considerations.”

“There was never really a formalised means of how to engage with partners on collaborations such as that between IR4 with QUT. The Cobotics Centre has become the industry leading collaborative partner that brings together organisations with similar intent.”

“Our business requires a significant element of R&D activity. Without some sort of support from existing research institutions, some of the key programs of capability development would struggle to achieve the commercial justification or imperative—this is

22

Australian Welding

a key driver for our engagement in the Australian Cobotics Centre,” said Brugeaud.

The Centre offers a range of benefits to industry partners: • Access to full range of research projects, outcomes from research including IP that can be used within your field.

• Flexible and adaptive approach to research and its application to mirror the needs of your business.

• Access to international and national experts in the field, free of charge.

• Collaboration with other companies who have similar challenges and the opportunity to work together to learn and grow and adapt to those challenges.

“We are interested in hearing from industry partners who are in different fields to our current partners and can offer a different perspective and experience to the Centre,” said Roberts.

“New industry partners within the Centre would be welcomed and would gain access to the projects already underway, but importantly, would have an opportunity to propose new projects aligned to their business that can draw on the research outcomes of the already established research programs.”

“The PhD students, post-doctoral research Fellows and engineers of the Centre will spend time embedded in their company in order to accelerate uptake of cobotics,” said Roberts.

Further Information If you’d like further details, or are keen to get involved in the Australian Cobotics Centre visit: australiancobotics.org

An Update from Weld Australia’s Hotline Weld Australia offers a ‘Hotline’ service to all Corporate Members. The purpose of the Hotline is not to provide a solution, but to advise the enquirer on practical next steps. For further advice, Weld Australia’s highly experienced welding consultants can speak to you over the phone or visit your site in person. If you have a Hotline query, complete our online contact form and we will respond as soon as possible: www.weldaustralia.com.au/hotline.

Weld Australia recently received an inquiry from a fabricator who needed to realise a steel structure using weather resistant steel (AS 3678 Structural steel - Hot-rolled plates, floorplates and slabs WR 350). The welding standard called for by the project was AS/NZS 1554.1 Structural steel welding - Welding of steel structures.

In the process of qualifying the welding procedure for the project, the fabricator asked whether this could be achieved satisfactorily using another carbon manganese steel of the same type, as indicated in AS/NZS 1554.1: 2014 Table 4.6.1 (b).

In particular, the fabricator wanted to know if AS 3678 Grade 350 could be used to qualify the welding procedure, instead of AS 3678 WR 350.

The fabricator was also using a specific weather resistant steel consumable for the project.

The answer to the question depends on the specific application. In fact, AS/NZS 1554.1 (the standard to be adopted for the welding procedure qualification) confirms that both options are feasible.

AS/NZS 1554.1:2014 Clause 4.8 – Extension of qualification allows the use of a welding procedure qualified for a certain carbon manganese steel, also

for other carbon manganese steels, provided that the steel type number and preheat group number has not increased.

In the case of the specific query, AS 3678 Gr. 350 (carbon steel) and AS 3678 WR350 (weather resistant carbon steel) are both the same steel type (Type 4 as per table 4.6.1 (b)) and have similar preheat requirements (Weldability group 5 – see table 5.3.4(A)).

However, within the same Clause, it is specified that the extension of qualification is possible if “the chemical composition of the weld metal, is not required to match that of the parent metal for weather resistance purpose”.

The particular fabricator application, also considering the thicknesses of the members involved, strictly required a consumable with weather resistant chemistry.

Therefore, the fabricator is required to qualify the welding procedure with the steel grade (AS 3678 – WR350) that will be used in the project, even if plain carbon manganese steel (AS 3678 – Gr.350) is classified as the same steel type.

This Hotline update covers a specific query encountered during the last few months. Whilst accuracy in welding is critical, it is impossible to report in detail the full circumstances of the query. As such, Weld Australia recommends that further technical advice is sought in relation to specific, individual circumstances.

Q3 | September 2021

23

Women in Welding: Bec Cameron Bec Cameron has over 15 years experience working in the welding industry. She kick-started her career as an apprentice, undertaking a Certificate III in Engineering. Since then, she has gained in-depth experience across just about all aspects of welding, from welding supervision and inspection, through to sales and lecturing at TAFE. Bec took the time out to answer some questions about her welding career so far.

Describe your job.

My current position is the Fabrication Quality Coordinator for Liebherr-Australia, based at the head office in Adelaide. I work in the Fabrication department where we manufacture new excavator buckets and refurbish excavator buckets and attachments (sticks and booms) that have been in service.

I am one of the control points for the high standard of quality Liebherr is known for, including progressive and final weld inspections, coating inspections, and quality inspections on both incoming materials and outgoing products. I am also responsible for the development of Procedure Qualification Records (PQR), Welding Procedure Specifications (WPS) and qualification of welders.

Liebherr-Australia’s fabrication department in Adelaide has recently secured certification for AS/NZS ISO 3834.2 – Quality requirements for fusion welding of metallic materials – so a significant part of my role is carrying out the various quality assurance and quality control functions required to support the department in their certification from a welding coordination perspective.

What inspired you to choose a career in welding?

I was always interested in trades at school and opted to take metalwork and woodwork classes as electives. I found these suited my learning style and I found myself really enjoying the practical, hands on aspect. As I engaged in post trade study, I found that the passion I developed allowed me to be successful in both the practical and theoretical aspects of welding.

My Dad was the person who first suggested I begin a career in welding, and I guess he is the person who taught me that I was capable of anything I chose to do, regardless of gender. I was extremely lucky as he always promoted that women were no less capable than men, and believed they make brilliant welders due to their attention to detail.

Growing up in that sort of environment results in strong females who generally don’t question their capability or suitability for something based on their gender, but rather embrace an attitude that they can achieve anything they set their mind to.

Image: Bec Cameron, Fabrication Quality Coordinator for Liebherr-Australia.

24

Australian Welding

Why do you think women should consider a career in welding?

If you have an interest in welding, like working with your hands, and solving complex problems then there is no reason not to get involved. Often, we are our own limiting factor by assuming we can’t—or shouldn’t—do something because it isn’t considered the norm. There are some amazing opportunities in the welding industry, and many different paths that you can take.

Do you have any advice for women considering a career in welding?

It is an incredibly rewarding industry with amazing opportunities to create a fulfilling career for yourself.

From my personal experience, the good has always outweighed the bad.

However, the reality is that you will be a minority in the industry and, with that, comes challenges. For the most part, people are accepting and supportive.

Occasionally, there may still be the odd person who doesn’t necessarily think you belong, or who may make inappropriate gestures, comments, or act inappropriately. You will need to set your own boundaries on what you will and won’t tolerate and stand up for what you don’t accept as appropriate behaviour. What I have found is that those people are becoming harder to find. For example, in my current workplace, I have had nothing but support and respect from nearly every person I interact with.

Have you found working in a traditionally male-dominated industry difficult?

I have been in this industry for 16 plus years and there have been significant changes during that time regarding the way females are treated. I think that is no longer unusual to see a female in a male dominated industry and therefore the shift to becoming commonplace is occurring.

Throughout my career I have had many different roles, from welder and lecturer, to supervisor and inspector. With each role came a new set of challenges. The challenges of starting out as a welding supervisor and inspector six years ago were not just because I was female, but also because I was considered quite young for the role. This meant I had to work even harder to prove myself and remove any doubt that I deserved to be there.

I always made sure that I understood everything I was talking about and undertook as much training as I could. I guess that has been the biggest challenge throughout my working career—I have always felt I had more to prove than anyone else in the room.

I have worked in workshops and worksites across the country, and I can honestly say for the most part people I have met haven’t really viewed me as

“

If you have an interest in welding, like working with your hands, and solving complex problems then there is no reason not to get involved. Often, we are our own limiting factor by assuming we can’t—or shouldn’t—do something because it isn’t considered the norm.

different because I am female, just another person. I have also always had amazing work colleagues who have always treated me as an equal.

What is the most interesting project you’ve worked on?

I have been very fortunate in my career to travel the country working on various projects in different workshops and worksites. It would be impossible to pinpoint to just one. However, the projects, standards, and materials that were outside status quo have been the most enjoyable due to the challenge of working with something new. Any project where I have had the opportunity to learn something and increase my knowledge base and experience is always a positive.

Who has inspired you professionally?

I have tried to carve my own path in the industry and have been lucky enough to have had some amazing people along the way who have guided me and taught me different skills, whether they be practical, theoretical, or even how to treat your customer. Ultimately, however, everything I have achieved is because I set a goal and worked hard to meet that goal.

What do you believe is the biggest challenge for the welding industry?

I believe we are headed into a significant skills shortage, with a coming boom in the defence space, particularly in South Australia. Over the next few years we will struggle to secure competent tradespeople in the required numbers.

Unfortunately, this will put pressure on industry and the training sector. We need to prepare for this sooner rather than later.

What do you believe is the biggest opportunity for the welding industry?

There are so many developing areas within the welding industry; mining, construction, and defence being the driving forces. I believe that automation and robotics present amazing opportunities for the welding industry, and for people in that industry to get in and develop as the area grows. This also links back to skill shortages, and I believe will provide people the opportunity to build a strong career.

Q3 | September 2021

25

Schlam Aims Higher, Making Mining Equipment More Productive Schlam has a unique engineering mindset. The company ensures local mines are competitive and prepared for a secure future. This is underpinned by the company’s three core values for enhanced equipment productivity: payload; people; and engineering. Schlam has recently joined Weld Australia as a Premium Corporate Member. This will add a suite of benefits and opportunities for increased growth; resource-sharing; and safety enhancement across the organisation.

Schlam seeks to make mining equipment more productive by raising the productivity bar across every single shift. The company was founded in 1996

by Barry Schlam in Yarloop, which is located around an hour and a half south of Perth. He saw a need for high-quality precision welding and fabrication services in the southwest industrial sector of Western Australia.

In 2001, Barry’s son, Ryan joined the company.

Since then, the company has taken to new heights and grown to be one of Australia’s largest familyowned mining services businesses. Today, Schlam products are found across six continents.

The company’s mission remains as strong today as it was 20 years ago—to make mining equipment more productive, right across the world.

Glenn Brearey is Schlam’s Payload Solutions’ General Manager, who said the company works hard to secure new projects and staff from across the sector. “We realise value and unlock productivity opportunities for our mining partners and engineer, manufacture and maintain the assets critical to their success.”

“Across our organisation, we work hard to attract and retain the best people in the industry. Our team is committed to knowledge sharing and continuous improvement, learning from mistakes as well as our successes. We are all about adding value and see our work as an extension to our client’s ability to achieve more with less,” Brearey said.

Heavy Mobile Equipment Schlam provides mining products and services that are primarily designed for heavy mobile equipment.

The company has several business units, including Schlam Payload Solutions and Schlam People Solutions. Schlam Payload Solutions design and engineer the world-leading Hercules open-cut dump

26

Australian Welding

truck body, Bullant underground dump body, and Barracuda buckets.

“The Hercules dump body allows mining operators to carry more ore per pass because of its lightweight design, therefore increasing productivity and profit.

The design is also compatible with all OEM dump trucks and is in demand globally,” said Brearey. “The Hercules, Bullant and Barracuda are manufactured in Australia using some of the most talented welders in the business. This mixed with world-class design makes for a formidable suite of mining attachments that are used by a number of Tier 1 miners across the country.”

This capacity is matched by Schlam People Solutions, who employ skilled tradespeople on flexible terms to perform maintenance on heavy mobile mining equipment The company provides a range of services across the mechanical and fabrication areas, including backfill, peak load, and specialist skills support.

The majority of the company’s labour contracts are performed on a fly-in, fly-out basis with varying

rosters to suit both the client and the employee.

Schlam People Solutions also performs off-site repairs and heavy fabrication from several locations in Western Australia.

The Secret to Schlam’s Success Brearey believes there are two parts that differentiate Schlam from their competitors. “Our unique engineering mindset and our after-sales support. We have an in-house engineering and research and development team who provide our clients with verification and accuracy of their custom design well before any steel has been cut,” he said.

Schlam’s engineers use highly advanced tools and software to model the Hercules according to a client’s mine, situation and strategy. The company also follows strict product outputs, which are designed to last.

“We follow the product from the design table, to installation, commissioning and beyond. Each Hercules comes with a full parts list and each client has a dedicated account manager. After-sales support is our badge of honour. Our after-sales support closes this loop and feeds their insights back from the field into future designs,” said Brearey.

staff remain focused and supported to meet the individual needs and opportunities for the industry into the future.

“There are opportunities for the industry and the individual now and into the future. For Schlam it’s all about continuous improvement,” said Brearey.

“Continuous improvement is taking an established production process and looking for ways to incrementally improve the production process.

Although individual changes may not seem to have a major impact, the aggregate means significant change and improvement to the manufacturing process. By taking small, measured steps, as a course of every day action, it also allows for improvement while eliminating the risk of making one massive leap to try to achieve the same effect.”

“Those steps could be as radical as robotic welding or something as simple as rearranging the location of consumable items to increase time spent welding.”

For further information, visit: schlam.com

Premium Products and Services Matched with Premium Membership Schlam recently joined Weld Australia as a Premium Corporate member. According to Brearey, taking out this membership offers a range of benefits for the company. “Weld Australia is the peak body for welding in the country. Our membership offers us access to technical advice, training, and certification. Importantly, by becoming members, we are investing in the future of welding in Australia by supporting the welding community as a whole,” said Brearey.

Schlam’s membership will ensure the company’s

Q3 | September 2021

27

Lessons Learnt: How to Control Weld Heat Affected Zone Hardness Levels ALS’s Mechanical Testing team has witnessed examples of Procedure Qualification Records (PQR) failing to comply with specified maximum hardness levels. At times, all other testing proves compliant such as NDT, macro, bend, transverse butt tensile, and charpy impact testing. In this ‘Lessons Learnt’ ALS shares some basic information with the welding community to help avoid this type of occurrence and reduce PQR qualification costs.

A Simple MMAW Multi-Pass (2F) Fillet Welded Bar to Plate PQR Test Piece Sent into the Laboratory for Qualification. What can go wrong?

Why is preheat a critical part of the welding operation to control hardness levels?

Preheat can significantly influence hardness, brittleness and ductility due to rapid quenching. It reduces the risk of cold and delayed (under bead) cracking through minimising hydrogen levels. This is achieved by allowing the material to spend more time at elevated temperatures and time for hydrogen to escape from the weld and Heat Affected Zone (HAZ).

Preheat reduces shrinkage stresses from varying temperatures in the weldments with varying individual member thickness. Beyond this, it helps to slow the cooling rate and the temperature difference between the arc and base materials.

What can happen if we don’t preheat?

If preheat is not applied there can be failure of PQRs due to excessive hardness in the HAZ, rarely in the weld metal, which is typically outside of the range test criteria of 250 (HV10), 350 (HV10) and 450 (HV10).

Cold cracking can occur due to certain conditions under the weld bead; this can sometimes be very difficult to detect with NDT methods depending on the weld type and joint geometry.

It can introduce inherently hard or brittle and undesirable microstructures such as martensite, which is needle like crystals in a dark and not welldefined matrix. Ultimately, failure to preheat can result in premature failure of welds in service, particularly subjected to cyclic stresses.

What are some of the main influencing factors that would require preheat?

The main influencing factors include chemistry, carbon equivalent, combined joint thickness, heat input (kJ/mm), and welding process. Beyond these, low ambient temperature and humidity, along with levels of any internal or external restraints are additional influencing factors.

28

Australian Welding

How can I calculate the correct preheat temperature?

Always refer to manufacturing specifications and tables, or other applicable standards for minimum preheating temperatures. You can also calculate preheat by grade and thickness using standards, or calculate by process, heat inputs, combined thickness, and material group.

Post Weld Heat Treatment (PWHT), such as stress relief where required, is usually driven by material type and specific application requirements.

Reference material is widely available to calculate the required preheat, including Weld Australia’s Technical Note One - The Weldability of Steels; and Australian Standards, such as the AS/NZS 1554 series, AS 4458, AWS D1.1, and ASME B31.3.

If you are unsure how to go about this, contact a qualified Welding Supervisor, or higher, who will be able to develop an appropriate procedure for your specific application and welding process.

What if the material is unknown (such as in crack repair) – how do I calculate preheat?

A reputable materials testing laboratory should be able to help you with material identification. Gathering the following information can provide the required detail in most cases: 1. Collect shavings, filings or solid pieces for complete chemical analysis using Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES) or wet chemistry 2. Complete a positive material identification test using a portable OES or XRF unit. The XRF test can provide some information on composition, but may not provide accurate information on carbon content 3. Conduct a portable hardness test on the component to obtain a hardness and approximate Tensile Strength (TS), which is useful for consumable matching 4. Remove a sample for proof stress tensile testing (if possible), which is needed to determine exact yield strength, TS, % elongation, and so on 5. This information will provide material group,

carbon equivalent, if PWHT might be required, and mechanical properties. This will allow one to calculate the preheat and select the welding consumable in most cases Note: as a sample guide, if OES is used, a 20 cent sized piece solid sample is required. If shavings or filings are used, 10gms of material shall be removed from the item for testing, free of contamination. Guidance on a suitable sampling method is also given in Appendix A of Weld Australia’s Technical Note 20 - Repair of Steel Pipelines.

What steps can be taken to ensure the best chance to produce compliant Weld Hardness?

To ensure best practice, always calculate the minimum required preheat temperature prior to initiating the weld arc. It is also important to maintain inter-pass temperatures. Where possible, use stringer passes to refine the grain structure of the previous passes.

Do not overmatch the strength (MPa) of welding consumable unnecessarily, and where possible, always place the last pass welded on the softer, lower Carbon Equivalent (CE) side of the joint if the weld cap is multi pass. In ALS’s experience, this alone would have saved a few PQR’s from failing in the past; just by a few hardness points having no grain refinement on the higher CE side of the joint. This is usually noted on the forging side of pipe joints for PQR testing.

Macrograph 1: Original weld (no preheat) – peak Hardness = 443HV.

Macrograph 1 Detail: Close view of Macrograph 1 showing area of elevated HAZ hardness (smaller hardness indents).

Where necessary, use temper bead welding. A good reference for this process is AS 3992: 2020; ASME- IX: 2021. ALS also recommends controlled, slow cooling (using a welding blanket, for example) and carrying out PWHT as applicable to the material welded.

The macrographs opposite demonstrate the before and after hardness results for versions of the same PQR. Peak Hardness: 443 HV10 (no preheat applied) and 354 HV10 (when preheat was used). As can be seen in our sample Macrograph 1 and Macrograph 2, containing Vickers Hardness Traverses, an 89 HV10 reduction in hardness was achieved after preheat was applied. In this case, the end user accepted the results.

Conclusion Using easily obtainable information and planning welding activities, significant reductions in weld HAZ can be achieved. Ultimately, this means more durable welds.

Macrograph 2: Re-Test (preheat applied) – peak Hardness = 354HV.

The opposite graph depicts Vickers Hardness Traverses showing the same weld location with nil preheat and correct preheat applied. Peak Hardness was reduced by 89 points (refer to position A on the Hardness graph opposite).

If you need support, a reputable materials testing laboratory or a qualified Welding Supervisor should be able to support you with any testing, procedure development or calculations required to ensure that the HAZ in your welds is well controlled.

The Hardest readings are usually 0.5 to 1.0mm from the fusion boundary into the HAZ (Coarse Grain HAZ).

Q3 | September 2021

29

Image: RUD Australia’s 6,000m2 facility in Brisbane.

RUD Australia Certified to AS/NZS ISO 3834 Expanding Capabilities and Reach RUD Australia is a specialist solutions provider in the materials handling space. The company provides high-quality products to a range of mining, defence and engineering clients across Australia and New Zealand. RUD’s in-house engineers and staff regularly undergo technical support training and professional development, which ensures the company remains competitive. RUD was recently certified to AS/NZS ISO 3834, which is already expanding their local capabilities and global reach.

In 1875, the Rieger family founded RUD Chains in Germany. Today, the Rieger family remains at the helm of the international RUD Group, which has over 2,000 staff members who specialise in quality and innovation. The company boasts over 500 international patents, and their products are found in over 140 countries.

The company’s Australian subsidiary was established by the Nuttall family in 1984. Today, RUD Australia boasts a highly-skilled team of over 60 people who operate out of the company’s head office in Brisbane, branch facility in Perth, and across all major Australian capital cities, and New Zealand.

Sanjaya Piyasena is the Manufacturing Engineer at RUD Australia, who said the company has grown into the Australian market over time. “RUD was established because there was a need to import quality lifting gear into the Australian market. Then, over time, our other niche products and solutions found their way into the Australian market.”

RUD is primarily known for their lifting and lashing systems. But Piyasena said the company has a wide array of expertise across materials handling. “We also do a lot in the chain conveyor and drive systems space, as well as tyre protection and traction chains.

We’re also the only Australian manufacturer of the Endurequip heavy vehicle hoist systems.”

30

Australian Welding

The Key to RUD’s Success Piyasena believes the key to RUD’s success is their technical competencies, and expertise.

“From the engineering services side of the business—where we’ve seen a lot of development in the last few years—we manage the entire design and fabrication process in-house. Our one-stop-shop capability, alongside our technical competencies and expertise across a wide range of sectors such as defence, mining, utilities and waste management and infrastructure—that’s what sets us apart,” said Piyasena.

The business has a wide-ranging list of clients— from the Australian Defence Force to local transport and rail industries. “A key project we have completed recently includes design and fabrication support for Rheimetall Defence Australia’s manufacturing facility. We have worked collaboratively with their production team to devise custom materials handling solutions,”said Piyasena.

But no matter how big or small—improving productivity and safety remains the key to RUD’s success. The company adopts a wholeof-organisation approach to ensuring the best solutions for their clients.

World-Leading Facilities RUD operates world-leading facilities that underpin their drive for constant growth and success.

“Our main sales warehouse, manufacturing and engineering facility is a 6,000m2 workshop in Brisbane. We also have a branch facility in Perth,” Piyasena said.

At the Brisbane facility, RUD hosts advanced welding units, which offer identification and traceability benefits, and include sensors and inbuilt data acquisition capabilities.

“If clients have the need for higher specifications, we can provide it,” Piyasena said. “Alongside this, we have the ability to test fabricated goods and lifting devices in-house. We have two 200 tonne test beds, and have just commissioned a 500-tonne test bed. This enables us to test a final product and ensure its quality and structural strength has been assessed, and exceeds the standard specification,” Piyasena said.

In addition, a robotic welder and laser scanning capabilities have recently transformed RUD’s design and manufacturing process. “This ensures we can deliver greater accuracy of design—we can reverse engineer to suit client needs,” Piyasena explains.

Advanced Manufacturing Matched with New Certification RUD has adopted a strong internal testing and quality control program, which is underpinned by ISO 9001, ISO 14001, AS/NZS 45001 and ISO/IEC 17025. In addition, the company was recently certified to AS/NZS ISO 3834, which bolsters the technical knowledge of all welding personnel across the business, and opens a new window of global supply chain opportunities.

Piyasena said there “was a need in the market for certification”, which led the company to embark

on the certification journey. “Transport and defence companies are now requesting, or requiring, that companies have AS/NZS ISO 3834 certification in order to complete work, because it sets a benchmark for the quality of the goods produced.”

“Overseas, similar quality certifications are already widespread in a lot of these highly regulated industries. In order for us to be prepared and ready to take work, we saw AS/NZS ISO 3834 certification as a necessity,” he said.

AS/NZS ISO 3834 ensures RUD remains globally competitive in a post-COVID manufacturing environment. The company is already reaping the benefits of certification.

“We’ve definitely seen new opportunities in defence and transport work—those two industries have definitely included AS/NZS ISO 3834 certification in their contractual obligations. There are also other quality requirements that build off this certification.

So, it has enabled us to begin our quality journey, with AS/NZS ISO 3834 as the base line,” Piyasena explained.

Piyasena also shared some practical advice for other companies who are operating in the welding and fabrication space and considering a certification to AS/NZS ISO 3834.

“I’d say certification is definitely a worthwhile endeavour as it forces you to look at how you do certain things within your welding and fabrication process. It will enable you to see what areas can be further developed and you’ll be able to perform work for a wider cross-section of industries, which are now calling for this certification,” he concluded.

For further information, visit: rud.com.au

Q3 | September 2021

31

From Start to Finish: BRE Engineering Delivers End-To-End Solutions BRE Engineering was established by Simon Brennan in 2016. BRE Engineering has focused on delivering proven, cost-effective, intelligent concept-to-completion solutions that meet both existing and future challenges in the engineering sector. Today, the company has diverse in-house capabilities that meet the needs of their clients across Australia.

BRE was recently certified to AS/NZS ISO 3834, which demonstrates their ability to meet the high quality standards required by the defence industry.

BRE Engineering offers integrated, multi-discipline end-to-end engineering services, which range from the concept phase of a project to the manufacturing, commissioning, completion, and sustainment phases.

Simon Brennan, the Managing Director of BRE, is a mechanical engineer with a wide range of expertise in the engineering sector.

“At BRE, we have worked to create an environment where our engineers can design a job, collaboratively with our clients, and then be involved in the building and further development of that job at our in-house workshop. Our engineers see the finished product, meet the customers, understand their projects and learn along the way.

That’s why I established BRE,” he said.

Today, BRE employs nearly 100 staff who are spread over 20 skilled trades and engineering disciplines. BRE also supports young apprentices

32

Australian Welding

and professional development opportunities for Indigenous employees and companies within the sector. BRE has a strong reputation of safe, intelligent, and sustainable practices across the marine, defence, mining, renewable energy, and industrial sectors.

“We’re involved in everything—the concept, design, certification, engineering, manufacturing and installation, maintenance and sustainment,” Brennan said.

BRE is committed to a strong local industry in Western Australia, which is driven by local manufacturing and sustainable materials.

“We work predominantly in defence and mining, and are a registered supplier to defence and mining primes in Australia. In the mining sector, we work with Fortescue Metals Group, BHP and Rio Tinto.

In defence, we work with the likes of BAE Systems, NSM, Thales, and Luerssen Australia,” Brennan said.

“We believe that the formula is simple: we stand by our products and services.”

Big Projects from Humble Beginnings Since its inception, BRE has grown significantly.

But its core values have remained the same: quality and innovation. The company specialises in multidiscipline engineering; solutions-driven design; and skilled trades, including fabricators, boilermakers, painters, insulators, sheet metal workers, and riggers and fitters.

To undertake such an impressive list of offerings, BRE has invested in several Fronius welding machines, and a five axis CNC machine that is used to process raw materials into finished goods.

“We have some specialised equipment, including testing and inspection gear for painting,” Brennan said. “We’ve invested heavily in a lot of expensive, high-level software that is not overly common. For instance, we run Siemens NX, which is an advanced CAD environment that a lot of the shipbuilders use for their designs. We also run ANSYS analysis software and have one of the few licences in the country for Micflow, which is used for flooding studies,” said Brennan.

These facilities, alongside a list of skilled staff have allowed BRE to work on a variety of projects. These include the Stern Gate project for Luerssen Australia.

“This was a three tonne aluminium fabrication job, that was about 4.5m x 4.5m and 3m high, for the back of an 86m long ship. We also delivered ship hull repairs for the ANZAC Frigates, which required the welding of D36 plate and cutting and welding on the vessel, on the water and on the hardstand,” Brennan explained.

BRE Engineering’s Certification to AS/NZS ISO 3834 BRE’s recent AS/NZS ISO 3834 certification is essential for servicing the defence and naval industries.

“BRE’s work routinely involves cutting large holes in the side of a ship and then welding them closed. Given the nature of this work, our clients need us to demonstrate that we have the right quality assurance and control processes in place,” Brennan explained.

“In addition, BRE wanted some differentiators within the market to attract new clients and a new generation of committed and skilled staff. Our focus on specialised work and higher risk projects that rely upon the use of exotics requires a much higher skills base,” Brennan said.

BRE Engineering is now one of a select few companies in Western Australia that holds AS/NZS ISO 3834 certification.

During the audit process, Weld Australia offered constructive and collaborative feedback to Brennan and the BRE team.

“Some elements were very thorough—more so than we had anticipated—but Weld Australia was helpful throughout those more challenging elements. We enjoy working with auditors who give us constructive criticism so that we can improve—auditors who recognise that the business is young, and is learning and growing along the way,” Brennan explained.

Brennan also believes that other companies should consider a certification to AS/NZS ISO 3834 and be open to “behavioural changes required throughout your business”.

“You can put processes in place and tell your team to do things a certain way, but behavioural changes can be slow to occur.

So, start with behaviours that will take the longest and be the slowest to change. Give yourself enough time to get everything in place.”

“At BRE, we try to live by our certifications every day,” said Brennan.

For further information, visit: bre.engineering

Q3 | September 2021

33

Voortman Beamline Delivers Fresh Opportunities for Hanlon Industries For over two decades, Corio-headquartered Hanlon Industries has specialised in steel fabrication and commercial construction projects. Today, Hanlon has operations across four Australian states, and supports a variety of industries through an expansive fleet of heavy haulage trucks, cranes and access equipment. Now in their 21st year, the company has expanded its business model and invested in new technology to provide more efficient, cost-effective client solutions. Hanlon’s new Voortman beamline technology will transform the company’s manufacturing capabilities.

Hanlon’s General Manager Operations, Tom Hanlon, says the company’s success comes from humble beginnings. “To begin with, Hanlon Industries was built on the foundation of a local maintenance contract in Geelong. Over the years we have continued to expand our client base and service offerings,” Hanlon said.

As Australia locked down to prevent the spread of COVID-19 last year, Hanlon said the company looked towards new opportunities, and expanded its business model. “COVID certainly impacted our revenue throughout 2020. It forced us to really analyse our current business model and value proposition.”

As such, Hanlon currently services a suite of clients across the manufacturing, construction and project management space. The company provides clients with fully-licenced site crews 24 hours a day, and seven days a week.

“Hanlon Industries is now more multi-dimensional than ever before. Offering expertise across a wide range of services including design, project management, engineering, steel fabrication,

34

Australian Welding

contract and labour hire, equipment hire, mechanical maintenance and commercial building,” said Hanlon.

The company works with a wide range of clients including John Holland, Zoos Victoria, Hansen Yucken, and Metro Trains Melbourne, across both minor and large-scale projects.

Apprentices are also a crucial part of Hanlon’s success—10% of the company’s staff are apprentices or trainees.

Hanlon’s Advanced Technology: The Voortman Beamline Hanlon has recently invested in a Voortman beamline to diversify their manufacturing capabilities, and to capitalise on scale and efficiency across the organisation. “As the need to reorient the business grew, the company made the strategic decision to invest in some large manufacturing equipment and technology,” Hanlon said.

The Voortman beamline is an advanced piece of equipment that optimises workflow and increases

overall automation. It can be a gamechanger for companies that operate in the advanced manufacturing space.

“The greatest challenge for any company—but particularly in the welding and manufacturing industry—is that you are continually looking at your operations and trying to drive scale and efficiency,” said Hanlon. “It’s not just about throwing money at a problem—it’s about understanding your operations and investing in the right areas. You need to have a clear vision around what you want your organisation to represent.”

“The Voortman beamline provides a whole new dimension to our ability to manufacture steel.

There are also efficiency and quality management gains, and the environmental benefit as well.

When you manufacture steel, the precision with which you have to procure the raw materials, can sometimes pose challenges. With the Voortman, the procurement costs are actually lowering because there is less wastage associated with the procurement process,” explained Hanlon.

The Voortman beamline allows Hanlon to tender and work on the largest projects in the country. Hanlon encourages other likeminded companies to adopt similar technology. “If you want to manufacture in a safe, environmentally friendly manner and you want to drive scale and efficiency, this sort of technology is perfect. It would be great to see more Australian companies investing in Australian manufacturing. The flow on effects for the economy and our communities in terms of employment opportunities are so important,” he said.

In line with their commitment to staff training and the next generation of apprentices, the technology has also allowed Hanlon to upskill its workforce.

“One of the obvious benefits of investing in the Voortman beamline is the ability to tender, and work on, a larger scale. Our manufacturing capacity and scale has improved remarkably.

We’ve been able to upskill our workforce. We have gone from a standard manufacturing process, which is essentially hand cutting, to this high-tech process that adds a different dimension to skilled labour,” Hanlon said.

The Voortman beamline allows users to review and change its settings for increased optimisation and success. Hanlon believes the technology is not a “set and forget process”, and has some practical tips for others in the welding and fabrication space who are considering the adoption of this technology: 1. Ensure that you have the depth of client base so that the investment is warranted.

For further information, visit: hanlonindustries.com.au

Technology and machinery are not the saviour to all problems 2. Make sure you have the capacity and mindset to continually question your process improvement.

3. Have a real focus on safety and quality. These machines operate at a different scale—a scale that needs strong operational processes around safety.

You need to have these safety measures already in place.

“If you want to manufacture in a safe, environmentally friendly manner and you want to drive scale and efficiency, this sort of technology is perfect,” said Hanlon.

The Key to Success: Social Responsibility In addition to advanced manufacturing capabilities, Hanlon believes there is a suite of opportunities across the Australian welding sector for likeminded companies to make a difference.

“In this current market, there is so much stimulus associated with construction and manufacturing—a slow down isn’t going to happen any time soon. So it’s about making the most of every opportunity in a way that is true to your company’s values,” he explained.

Hanlon is strongly committed to its clients and the communities that they serve. The company is proud financial supporters of several local community organisations, including Give Where You Live, Barwon Health Foundation and GenU. “We also prioritise purchasing from social enterprises wherever possible. For our business, changing to social enterprise providers like Fruit 2 Work and My Maintenance Crew ensure that our community is supported by our company’s growth. We would encourage all businesses to explore what social enterprise services are in your community,” Hanlon said.

Q3 | September 2021

35

DVR Engineering Becomes an Industry Trailblazer with DIN 2303 Certification DVR Engineering provides manufacturing solutions for a range of clients across the defence, telecommunications, rail, aerospace, mining and marine sectors. The company operates 30,000m2 over two manufacturing facilities, with more than 95 staff operating advanced manufacturing equipment for end-to-end solutions. DVR Engineering was recently certified to both DIN 2303 Welding and allied processes - Quality requirements for production and maintenance companies for military products, and AS/NZS ISO 3834.2 Quality requirements for fusion welding of metallic materials.

DVR Engineering has all the hallmarks of a successful Australian business. Since it was established in 1988, the company has grown to service a wide arrange of clients in the defence, telecommunications, rail, aerospace, mining, marine and local government sectors.

According to Mike Nikol (Managing Director, DVR Engineering), the company specialises in the delivery of tailored engineered solutions. “The products supplied by DVR Engineering include precision high hardness armour components, precision light to heavy sheet metal engineering fabrications, quality tools, dies, and jigs and fixtures.

Product finishing is also one of our specialties, including corrosion protection,” Nikol said.

DVR Engineering’s point of difference is based on: a competitive price, excellent products delivered under time sensitive deadlines, and strong partnerships with clients. These unique advantages have enabled DVR Engineering to win both major clients and major projects.

Nikol said the company’s strong commitment to quality and clients allows DVR Engineering to remain focused in a competitive market. “DVR strongly believes in its motto ‘what can be imagined can be achieved’. DVR Engineering ensures that all its employees are inspired by this motto,” he explained.

“ 36

DVR strongly believes in its motto ‘what can be imagined can be achieved’.

DVR Engineering ensures that all its employees are inspired by this motto,” said Nikol.

Australian Welding

Advanced Facilities Lift DVR’s Game To meet the demands of their clients, DVR has a wide range of machinery, equipment and fabrication facilities. DVR Engineering utilises UniGraphics NX and PEPS CAD/CAM systems for design, drafting, and engineering analysis of products, importing models from external CAD systems, CNC programming, and manufacturing designed products using machining modules.

The company’s manufacturing capabilities include CNC machining, CNC laser cutting, turret punching, roll forming, brake press forming, welding and fabrication, polishing, grit blasting, SurTec 650 coating, wet spray painting, powder coating and assembling.

These facilities and machinery are spread across two manufacturing plants under a 30,000m2 roof.

These capabilities position DVR Engineering as a customer focused supplier able to deliver high quality products and satisfy customer expectations.

“Complex fabrications and components in particular are a niche for DVR but equally are at home with high volume production for a variation of industry sectors,” Nikol said.

DVR also owns and operates Advanced Armaments International, which holds ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation through NATA. The company can undertake ballistic tests on bullet resistant panels, products, protective material and personal body armour, and stab resistance tests on body armour to a range of Australian and International Standards, as well as proof load tests on lifting equipment.

DVR Engineering’s commitment to quality and its customers have seen the company inducted into Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame in 2013, in recognition of its manufacturing excellence.

The company has also received many supplier excellence awards from its customers, and industry awards such as the Hume Business Award 2017.

Bolstered Operations with New Quality and Military Certifications DVR Engineering was recently certified to AS/NZS ISO 3834 Part 2, which ensures the quality of fusion welding of metallic materials meets internationally recognised standards.

In addition, DVR Engineering was one of the first companies that Weld Australia certified to DIN 2303, which ensures that quality requirements for defence and military products are met.

The defence industry has specialist and very high quality requirements for welding on projects such as naval ships, submarines, and military vehicles.

DIN 2303 certification ensures that only welders with the highest levels of knowledge and technical skill are involved in these crucial projects.

DIN 2303 certification is required by both government departments and defence industry prime contractors as part of the tender process.

With many large-scale defence products being manufactured locally, the opportunities for Australian manufacturers in this market are huge.

According to Nikol, “DVR Engineering decided to Image: Inside DVR Engineering’s facilities in Melbourne.

gain DIN 2303 certification to demonstrate that the company meets the German and European quality requirements for welding and fabricating military products. We are confident that in the long term, these certifications will open up new opportunities for the company.”

Image: DVR Engineering’s facilities in Melbourne.

“DVR Engineering found that Weld Australia’s certification process was very good. The process helped DVR to enhance its understanding of the standards and their requirements. The process also helped DVR to gain certification within the targeted time frame.”

“Weld Australia auditors were very knowledgeable and thorough, and the audit process was very comprehensive. Overall, DVR is very happy about signing with Weld Australia to gain the certifications.”

“DVR Engineering highly recommends Weld Australia to other companies seeking certification to the ISO 3834 and DIN 2303 standards,” said Nikol.

Image: Welding at DVR Engineering’s.

For further information, visit: dvrengineering.com.au

Q3 | September 2021

37

Image: Emily Giezen, Armoured Steel Welder at Rheinmetall.

Emily Giezen Blasts Her Way to a Successful Welding Career in the Defence Industry An armoured steel welder at Rheinmetall Defence Australia, Emily Giezen was one of only four applicants to secure a highly sought-after position at the global defence company against 150 applicants.

In her first year at Rheinmetall, Emily enrolled in TAFE Queensland’s Course in Fusion Welding to ISO 9606 for Experienced Welders. This course helped Emily upskill using the latest augmented reality welding simulators to supplement live arc welding bay practices.

3838

- Quality requirements for production and maintenance companies for military products.

Emily was one of the welders tasked with welding the open-ended blast boxes that were then sent to Germany for testing.

“They are literally replicating a landmine going off underneath a combat reconnaissance vehicle — hence why they’re called a blast test. The blast box had to stay in one piece to be considered a pass,” said Emily.

After completing the course, Emily was among four Rheinmetall employees sent to the company’s German operations to learn welding processes around the construction of mission modules for the Boxer 8x8 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle.

The successful pass of the DIN 2303 weld test means that Rheinmetall’s Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence (MILVEHCOE) in Ipswich is now certified to manufacture armoured vehicles for Rheinmetall on a global scale.

Since returning from Germany, Emily’s welding expertise proved essential in qualifying Rheinmetall Australia to DIN 2303 Welding and allied processes

Emily took some time to answer some questions for Australian Welding.

AustralianWelding Welding Australian

Can you describe your job?

I am an Armoured Steel Welder at Rheinmetall Defence Australia, based at MILVEHCOE in Ipswich.

So far, a lot of our work has been prototyping for the LAND 400 project. Rheinmetall is building 8x8 Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles (CRV).

What inspired you to choose a career in welding?

I actually never really wanted to be a welder. I just fell into it and was good at it, so I’ve stayed in the industry. I have an agricultural background, and started out working with horses and learnt how to weld on horse floats.

Why do you think women should consider a career in welding?

Life is meant to be fair and equal. I don’t think women should have an advantage, just because it’s a male dominated industry. The question should be: why should a person consider a career in welding?

Welding is one of those trades where if you like building stuff—if you like hands-on work—it’s extremely rewarding. Whether it’s a horse float, or the bridges you drive on, you know the thing you’re building is going to be used by the public. With the infantry fighting vehicles, you know they’ll be driven out onto a battlefield one day. That’s rewarding.

Do you have any advice for someone considering a career in welding?

Nowadays, it’s all about qualifications and tickets.

Do your study. Pass your tickets. Do them all. That’s the biggest thing today – before it was all about doing your job, and doing it well. Now you need pieces of paper to back that up. Since I started welding eight years ago, the quality requirements just keep stepping up—everything has to be more accurate, more precise and much stronger. You learn how to achieve this with study. I’m halfway through the International Welding Specialist (IWS) with Weld Australia now.

Image: The Production Hall at Rheinmetall’s MILVEHCOE.

“

Welding is one of those trades where if you like building stuff—if you like hands-on work—it’s extremely rewarding.

Whether it’s a horse float, or the bridges you drive on, you know the thing you’re building is going to be used by the public. With the infantry fighting vehicles, you know they’ll be driven out onto a battlefield one day. That’s rewarding.”

Have you found working in a traditionally male-dominated industry difficult?

Yes, definitely. But every industry has its struggles.

If I worked in retail, for instance, there would still be something to overcome. You just have to take the good with the bad. Being a female has given me a foot in the door in the welding industry—one I might not have had if I was male.

What is the most interesting project you’ve worked on?

The most interesting project I’ve worked on would have to be the vehicle we’re building at this very moment. It’s a prototype of the Lynx KF41 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), which was shortlisted by the Australian Defence Force.

What do you like most about welding?

I love Standards. I love having a Standard to work to and making sure it’s met. I thrive off it.

What achievement are you most proud of?

I was chosen to weld the open-ended blast boxes—a four sided cube with the top and bottom missing—which were then sent to Germany for testing. The blast boxes had to stay intact through an explosion. Rheinmetall shipped steel over from Germany that cost upwards of $50,000. The boxes were sent off to Germany for non-destructive testing and MILVEHCOE was qualified to DIN 2303 the first time, that’s a huge achievement. I was the first person in Australia to qualify for welding armoured steel.

What do you believe is the biggest challenge for the welding industry?

Having enough skilled welders to meet the Standards that are required. The industry keeps lifting the bar in terms of quality, and yet, we have some welders who just aren’t getting any more training or certifications.

Q3 | Q1 September | March 2021

39

ARM Hub is Helping Unlock the Potential of Australian Manufacturing Australians are well-aware of the need to advance manufacturing operations to secure sovereignty and growth as a nation. Harnessing technology and Industry 4.0 are the crux of the solution, but how can Australia develop world-leading technology capabilities to become an advanced manufacturing nation? Queensland’s independent, not-for-profit, Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Hub has been doing just that. Their unique business model allows ARM Hub to work intimately with supply chains in our critical industries, with a focus on small-to-medium manufacturers, to bridge the gap between industry and innovation.

Within its first year of operation, the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Hub has found a huge and growing appetite for Australian businesses to innovate and take the world head-on.

“As an independent not-for-profit we have the agility required to work side-by-side with businesses on their digital transformation journeys and can assist in leveraging public and private funding.”

The ARM Hub accelerates Australian industry’s uptake of advanced manufacturing through robotics and related technologies and is now assisting a wide range of companies develop as global business leaders.

The Hub has engaged with over 200 businesses across the country, implemented over 120 Industry 4.0 needs assessments and activities, and supported the creation of new products and services, by Australians, for Australia and the world.

ARM Hub’s first tenants, Verton Pty Ltd, have fast tracked new crane products and services whilst occupying a dedicated space for research and development within the Hub’s Learning Factory.

According to Associate Professor Cori Stewart (Chief Executive Officer, ARM Hub), “We fill a critical gap for industry between research and commercialisation, bringing together the diverse expert teams needed to solve industry’s manufacturing challenges.”

Now global exporters with new international offices, Verton is deploying the next generation of their remote-controlled crane products in Europe, UK, North America, New Zealand and across Australasia. Verton has evolved from a scale-up to an established commercial business, outgrowing their space at the ARM Hub to take up residence in their own facility. Since then, Verton has substantially increased employment within the business and continue to grow.

“The global growth of our market has reassured us that investing in continued innovation is the right decision,” said Stan Thompson (Founder and Chief Technical Officer, Verton). “The heavy lift industry has increased demand for our products and as Verton grows to accommodate this, means we’re onboarding more staff to accelerate our products.”

Image: ARM Hub Learning Factory in Brisbane, Queensland.

4040

AustralianWelding Welding Australian

Also accessing the ARM Hub advantage are Hub tenants and future project partners, Australian Droid + Robot (ADR). ADR develop, manufacture and deploy remotely operated inspection vehicles for inaccessible and unsafe environments, such as abandoned mine sites, to keep personnel out of harm’s way. During their tenancy, ADR has collaborated with the ARM Hub to engage university expertise to further develop their products, realise their ideas and widen their manufacturing footprint.

“By innovating our existing fleet and advancing new technologies, we have the opportunity to push the bounds of where our products can go,” said Dawid Preller (Chief Technical Officer and Chief Pilot, ADR).

“We are constantly working to grow our business and with technology innovations we can enter new markets and make an impact in emergency services and defence operations.”

Throughout the ARM Hub’s first year in operation, the Australian manufacturing industry has continually demonstrated an eagerness to innovate, with more successes in Australian businesses like ADR and Verton, Australia’s manufacturing future is looking bright.

The opportunity for Australian manufacturers to succeed and grow employment opportunities through digital technologies is enormous. Whether it’s data science, robotics, artificial intelligence, or applying mixed realities, companies like Verton and ADR are showing that leveraging the support and expertise available through ARM Hub can grow Australian industry in ways that were previously unimaginable.

About ARM Hub The independent, not-for-profit $18 million ARM Hub is an agile technology application centre for robotics and design-led manufacturing, accelerating industry’s uptake of advanced manufacturing.

The ARM Hub draws together skilled teams of scientists, technical specialists, designers, and engineers, to develop commercial, advanced manufacturing solutions. Committed to advanced

manufacturing in Australia, the ARM Hub has been funded by industry, the Innovative Manufacturing CRC (IMCRC), CSIRO, QUT and the Queensland Government. The ARM Hub was born out of a collaborative project involving Queensland University of Technology (QUT), the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC), and UAP (Urban Art Projects) – a design and manufacturing company that specialises in delivering public art and large creative projects.

After securing funding from the IMCRC, UAP and QUT collaborated on a project called Design Robotics. The aim of the project was to “teach robots to see” (enabling a robot to look at an object before fettling or polishing) in order to improve the mass customisation capabilities of robotic manufacture. The project was all about turning a “dumb” robot into a smart robot – one able to make decisions about its assigned tasks.

The response to the Design Robotics project from local industry was incredible, particularly its “open innovation network” component which was designed to showcase the project to other companies. So, the Design Robotics project model was scaled up, resulting in the ARM Hub concept.

The Hub is providing services to small-to-medium and microenterprise manufacturers, helping them become successful advanced manufacturing businesses. The Hub is also collaborating with large companies to help drive digital transformation and support local supply chain development.

Left: Verton demonstration in the ARM Hub’s Northgate Learning Factory.

Below: Andre Preller (Embedded Systems Engineer, Australian Droid + Robot) and Nandi Preller (Public Relations, Australian Droid + Robot) in the ARM Hub’s Northgate Learning Factory.

Further Information If you’re interested in learning how technology and robotics could help your business advance and innovate, get in touch with ARM Hub on info@ armhub.com.au or visit: armhub.com.au

Q3 | Q1 September | March 2021

41

Women in Welding: Carley Attard Having finished her apprenticeship last year and earned a Certificate III in Engineering at Chisholm Institute, Carley Attard is a Boilermaker and Leading Hand at Nuform Steel Fabrications in Melbourne. Carley was recently announced as the winner of the Master Builders Victoria 2021 State Apprentice of the Year. Carley answered some questions about her career in welding so far.

Can you describe your job?

I’m a welder at Nuform Steel Fabrications in Bayswater, which is a steel fabrication company that works on a wide range of projects. We work on everything from architectural steel to structural steel.

Some of our recent jobs have included structural steel for a new council building in Lilydale, and installation of a glass channel for a restaurant and yoga studio.

What inspired you to choose a career in welding?

I actually just fell into a career in welding. I was working at a supermarket and wanted a change.

There is a very large industrial area near where I live, so I started walking around the area, handing out CVs. I walked into Nuform Steel and was hired on the spot. At the time, I didn’t know what a welder was. I’ve always liked doing things with my hands though, so it was a perfect fit. It actually wasn’t until I started doing my trade and my apprenticeship that I found out that a lot of my family were fitters and turners.

Why do you think women should consider a career in welding?

I think women should consider a career in welding because there are so many options. In my job, we do everything. But you can specialise in aluminum welding, or TIG or MIG, or whatever it is that you enjoy. There is always another choice. Plus, Australia is always going to need welders—there will always be jobs around.

42

Australian Welding

Do you have any advice for women considering a career in welding?

My advice for women considering a career in welding is just give it a go...and tie your hair back!

A lot of women think you need to be a big strong guy who can lift heavy things to be a welder. That’s just not the case these days. We have machines that lift for us, and take care of all that manual labour.

Also, the guys that you’ll work with will all help you— the industry is pretty accepting these days.

A career in welding is definitely not something to shy away from just because you’re female. Look at me: not only am I a boilermaker, I’m the Leading Hand.

Have you found working in a traditionally male-dominated industry difficult? If so, how have you overcome any challenges?

There are always going to be some challenges, like any job. I’ve had people take tools out of my hand and say I won’t be able do the job.

But, the company I work for is great and really supportive. I think you just need to get on with it and do the job. Hold your head high and do your best work. I’m confident in myself, and I know what I’m doing. People quickly come to realise that you know how to do the job.

What is the most interesting project you have worked on?

The first job that I was Leading Hand on is the

most interesting project I’ve worked on so far. This was the new Local Council building at Lilydale.

We fabricated the steel in the workshop and then installed it onsite. So I had the opportunity to see the entire job from start to finish. Lilydale is actually my Local Council, so I drive past the building every day now. I can tell my kids, I helped build that.

Who has inspired you professionally?

My foreman in the Nuform Steel workshop, Steve, has inspired me. He has taught me so much. The way he does things is so methodical—nothing bothers him. Something will go wrong in the workshop and I’ll be worried about how to fix it. Steve stays completely calm, and shows me another way to get the outcome we need.

What do you believe is the biggest challenge for the industry at the moment?

I think the biggest challenge for the industry is that there aren’t enough people doing welding apprenticeships. We don’t have the skills in Australia.

There’s so much work to be done but we just don’t have the skilled, experienced people to do it.

The school and training system does not support apprentices enough. It’s all competency-based training, without the hands-on learning that you need. You might know how to build something like a set of stairs in theory, but it’s completely different once you get out on the workshop floor.

What do you believe is the biggest opportunity for the industry at the moment?

There are lots of opportunities for the welding industry. There is always room for improvement in everything. One of the biggest opportunities is encouraging more women to join the trade.

Now that it’s becoming more acceptable for women to become welders, there is a huge untapped percentage of the population that might be interested in becoming a welder. There are underutilised skills there that the industry should make the most of.

Master Builders Victoria State Apprentice of the Year Carley Attard was announced as the winner of the 2021 Master Builders Victoria State Apprentice of the Year Award in May 2021 at a gala celebration held at Marvel Stadium.

The Award judges said they were impressed by Carley’s strong sense of initiative after she entered the industry by approaching various employers in her area in her search for an apprenticeship. Carley was also commended for her creativity and passion for the process of building, not just the result.

During the interview process, Carley expressed her nervousness about initially starting a trade.

However, now a fully qualified Fabrication Engineer, Carley believes anyone in her position should just ‘give it a go.’

“I’ve pushed myself harder during this apprenticeship than anything else in my life.”

“I was scared, but now I couldn’t see myself doing anything else,” Ms Attard said.

Master Builders Victoria CEO, Rebecca Casson, said the win was a fantastic achievement and proof that there is a place for women in the building and construction industry to develop successful and rewarding careers.

“We know that women – when given the opportunity – thrive in our industry, and we know their workplaces benefit too,” said Casson.

“Carley’s win is a testament to her ability as a young woman to tread her own path and follow her dreams even when they weren’t presented to her as a first choice.”

“A career in the building and construction industry is for everyone, and I encourage anyone looking for work to consider it,” said Casson.

Q3 | September 2021

43

News & Insights into Weld Australia’s Training & Certification Queensland Government MicroCredentialing Pilot Program Under the Queensland Government’s MicroCredentialing Pilots Program, Weld Australia received a grant that has enabled us to subsidise welder training across the state.

The Program provided an opportunity to support changing workplaces by providing focused training for new or transitioning employees. The training focused on specific skills to support businesses and industries in adopting innovations and improving productivity.

Having commenced on 1 October 2020, the grant enabled approximately 25 welders from Queensland to complete Weld Australia’s training courses for just 20% of the usual fee—the Queensland Government subsidised the remaining 80% of course costs.

The subsidy applied to Weld Australia’s online and blended training courses, including those related to the International Welding Engineer (IWE), International Welding Technologist (IWT), International Welding Specialist (IWS) and International Welding Inspector - Basic (IWI-B) qualifications, as well as AS 1796 Certificates 1-9 and 10, and AS 2214.

Initially, the program was slated to run until 30 June 2022. However, the response from welders across Queensland was so positive that all funding was allocated by March 2021.

Over 33% of students utilised the funding to undertake an IWE course, another 29% opted for either the AS 1796 or AS 2214 related courses, and 20% enrolled in Weld Australia’s IWT course.

To date, seven students have been awarded a qualification, with other students still completing their training courses.

When announcing their micro-credentialing pilots program, Queensland’s Minister for Training and Skills Development, the Hon Shannon Fentiman MP highlighted the valuable role micro-credentialing can play for Queenslanders.

“The Palaszczuk Government’s key priority is

44

Australian Welding

ensuring Queenslanders have the skills and training for the future of work,” Fentiman said. “Support for micro-credentials is just another way we are ensuring Queenslanders have pathways to access skills and training. In the State Budget we committed $5.5 million for micro-credentialing pilots to fill some of the critical gaps in skills and training that are important to Queensland businesses.”

Weld Australia has received a range of positive feedback on the program and its training. According to one student, “I [had] a salary increase and new position due to the completion of the course, immediately (thank you Weld Australia!).”

Another student said, “The Queensland grant helped me to be able to study from beginning to the end.

And I am more knowledgeable and confident dealing with everyday work since I obtained the certificate.

I am in charge of welding jobs in our company and have increased [monthly] sales.”

Business owners and development managers have been equally as positive. “For our business, gaining the qualifications in IWE and IWT for our leadership team, and AS2214 for our workshop leading hands, has opened the pathway towards higher industry certifications in DIN 2303 and EN 15085. Being able to gain these certifications opens the opportunities for our business in Australian Sovereign Capability projects like the LAND400 defence program and the Brisbane Cross-River Rail project.”

“By having additional supervisors and back-up welding coordination personnel has also enabled us to expand a service offering to Industry in our local region for welding quality management, preparation of welding procedures, qualification of personnel to the ISO 9606.1 standard, and facilitating the examinations of personnel to the AS1796 certificate program (which we have been discussing recently).”

“Our North Queensland region, and particularly Townsville, is lacking the number of qualified welding supervision and inspection personnel to support the local manufacturing space...That is why training in these micro-credentials is critical, and should continue to be supported by the State Government if they truly want to push Queensland ahead as the leading manufacturing state.”

If you’re looking to upskill yourself or enrol your staff in training courses in 2022, now is the time to do it. Weld Australia has just launched its first batch of courses for the new year. With our courses booking out in record time over the last 12 months, there really isn’t any time to wait. You can register now for all of the courses below.

•

AS 1796 Certificate 1-9 Theory Commencing 10 January 2022

•

IIW International Welding Inspector Basic (IWI-B) Commencing 17 February 2022

•

IIW International Welding Specialist (IWS) Commencing 1 March 2022

•

Welding Supervisor - AS 1796 Certificate 10 Commencing 8 March 2022

•

Welding Supervisor - AS 2214 Commencing 8 March 2022

•

IIW International Welding Technologist (IWT) Commencing 21 April 2022

•

IIW International Welding Engineer (IWE) Commencing 21 April 2022

All of Weld Australia’s training courses can be delivered in-house. Email: training@weldaustralia.com.au

Q3 | September 2021

45

All the News from Weld Australia’s Advanced Welder Training Centres Weld Australia has worked with partners around the country to secure State and Federal Government funding for the establishment of Advanced Welder Training Centres (AWTCs).

Using the state-of-the-art Soldamatic augmented reality welding simulator, the training delivered at the AWTCs quickly qualifies welders to the only industry Standard in the world that is accepted in both Europe and America: ISO 9606-1 Qualification testing of welders – Fusion welding. This Standard is the minimum requirement for working on rolling stock, defence and infrastructure projects, which are crucial to onshore Australian manufacturing and a stronger national economy.

Advanced Manufacturing School Outreach Program in New South Wales Last year, Weld Australia proposed an Advanced Manufacturing School Outreach Program to the New South Wales (NSW) Government. The Program received support from the NSW Government, with funding provided through the Department of Education’s Vocational Education and Training Program for Secondary Students.

As a result, in June 2020, 32 Augmented Reality Welding Simulators (ARWS) were deployed in a pilot program in 16 schools across the state, from the Wagga Wagga, Lake Illawarra and Dapto high schools in southern New South Wales, through to the Gorokan and Kurri Kurri High Schools in the Lower Hunter region. During October and November 2020, Weld Australia commissioned the machines and conducted training for teaching staff.

The pilot commenced at the beginning of Term 1 in 2021, with the ARWS used to teach welding to students in Years 10-12 studying Manufacturing and Engineering, and Industrial Technology.

Weld Australia is again working with the NSW

Image: Students at Woolgoolga High School use the simulators during the NSW Pilot Program.

46

Australian Welding

Department of Education to expose high school students to the very latest in welder training using simulators. This engaging, exciting learning technology provides a very safe and efficient way to teach students skills in a profession with there is high demand.

Based on the success of the pilot program, NSW Department of Education has ordered a further 20 ARWS for another 10 high schools in regional areas.

The schools taking part in this program include those in the Riverina, such as Junee and Temora High Schools, as well as schools in the central northern hub, including the Broken Hill, Burke and Cobar High Schools.

The welding simulators were a hit with students and teachers in the first pilot. In June 2021, the NSW Department of Education conducted a survey of teaching staff involved in the pilot. Key benefits emphasised by the teachers were the confidence the simulators engendered in students, the safety of the program, and the gamification aspect—the welding simulators are fun to use!

Weld Australia expects that the response to the second phase of the program will be just as positive.

Image: Teacher training at Lake Illawarra High School during the NSW Pilot Program.

MEM 2.0 Welder Learning Resources Weld Australia is making great progress with the national Metals and Engineering online learning resources project. Weld Australia has been working with TAFEs across the country through the National TAFE Consortium, and is now producing some excellent online resources.

According to Michael Pitt, (National Manager Education and Training, Weld Australia), “We are creating a set of national resources mapped to the national MEM training package, so that learning resources for trade students are consistent across the country. This will help ensure consistent training, regardless of where in the country students undertake that training.”

“The new resources are completely online and accessible via phone, mobile device or computer.

This will allow students to access learning at the time, place and pace that suits them best. We are very excited about the project and are already seeing some great results,” said Pitt.

Weld Australia recently circulated the new learning resources to TAFEs across the country through the National TAFE Consortium. The feedback has been extremely positive.

“TAFEs have noted that the structure of the course and the navigation of the website itself are both clear and easy-to-follow. The student notes are professional and well presented. The videos were also a real hit. According to the TAFEs, the practical videos are the best demonstration videos they have ever seen. The quality of the videos, the material and the presenters were also praised by the TAFEs,” said Pitt.

An important piece of feedback received by Weld Australia was the need to make the online learning platform more accessibility-friendly for people with disabilities. Weld Australia will be working closely with the TAFEs and their students on further development of the learning resources.

Welding curriculum must concentrate on the skills that will be essential to the future of industry. These skills must be focused on advancements such as automation, robotics, artificial intelligence, big data, and advanced manufacturing processes. It is these skills that will see Australian industry continue its push into high-quality, complex manufacturing.

Technical training is absolutely key to the future prosperity of Australia. Australia’s capacity to deliver major projects relies heavily on our ability to train highly skilled tradesmen and technicians who are qualified to deliver the projects. TAFEs, the curriculum they teach, and the learning resources that they have access to, play a crucial role in this.

All Images: The interactive MEM 2.0 training environment.

Q3 | September 2021

47

An Update from Weld Australia’s Technology Networks Weld Australia’s Technology Networks provide a forum for technology transfer and research and development, linking members with industry and research organisations. Weld Australia works with Technology Network members to ensure they remain diverse and resilient in the ever-changing and increasingly challenging global markets.

Welding Safety Council Weld Australia established the Welding Safety Council to advocate for strong safety requirements and risk minimisation throughout the industry. The Council provides a forum for industry and legislative safety authorities to discuss issues and work collaboratively to identify solutions.

The Welding Safety Council met at the end of July, with representatives invited from Safe Work Australia, WorkSafe Victoria, WHS Qld, WorkSafe Tasmania, SafeWork NSW, SafeWork SA, WorkSafe WA, WorkSafe NZ, Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists (AIOH),TAFE Queensland, BOC, AWS, and Weld Australia.

The main topics of discussion were welding fume safety and electrical safety. As a result of the discussions, Weld Australia will be working on an electrical safety and fume safety education program for welders and business owners. Council

members discussed the most effective means of communications with welders, Welding Supervisors and owners and managers of fabrication companies and welding workshops.

Bruce Cannon (Principal Welding Engineer, Weld Australia) gave an update on his Reports to the International Institute of Welding (IIW) Commission VIII. The first focused on welding electrical safety and included: a review of two welder electrocutions; an overview of AS 1674.2 and its basis, including electrical safety environment categories; and an overview of current industry best practice and how it evolved from a welder’s electrocution. The second presentation was an in-depth review of two recent electric shock incidents at secondary schools.

It was recommended that an expert working group on welding electrical safety is formed, with Australia

The Benefits of Technology Network Membership • • • • • • • • • • •

A confidential forum for discussing issues with peers A unified body that advocates for change among industry clients Advantageous access to technical advice and engineering support The opportunity to benchmark against industry best practice A conduit between industry and research organisations Beneficial nationally and internationally accredited training Cost effective certification products and services Collaborative sharing of resources and services for repair options in accordance with Australian and international standards Opportunities to influence Australian Standards Opportunity to participate in research and development projects Technology transfer and networking via industry specific forums

Contact Alistair Forbes (National Manager Corporate Businesses, Weld Australia) on a.forbes@weldaustralia.com.au for details.

48

Australian Welding

to be represented. The IIW agreed to this, and will report to Commission VIII. Cannon also provided an overview of the presentations given by some of the other countries to Commission VIII. Representatives from Canada spoke about the dangers of DC to welders, and is currently developing a ‘train the trainer’ course aimed at school teachers. The representative from the USA reported that OSHA had issued a proposal to require manufacturers to provide a fume assessment for every combination of materials, consumables and welding process and equipment.

Europe is calling for comments on a proposal for limits on emissions from welding, and is looking at introducing one specific limit irrespective of process (including plasma cutting).

Power Generation Process Safety Group Weld Australia’s Power Generation Technology Network met recently, with representatives from AGL, Alinta, Aurecon, CS Electricity, Delta Electricity, Origin Energy, Energy Australia, Stanwell, Synergy and Weld Australia in attendance.

The Group is producing a series of Good Practice

Guides. The first two guides to be produced were the Guideline for Safety Critical Elements and a Guideline for Reporting Process Safety Incidents for the Electricity Industry. These two documents have been circulated for review.

Lara Kayess (Manager, Asset Management, Aurecon) is facilitating an audit with each member of the Power Generation Technology Network to establish a baseline of Process Safety Management systems. A 40-question survey, based on an OECD questionnaire, has been developed. The survey questions have been built into an MS form with a selection of drop-down responses. An introductory pack was developed, outlinining the reasons for the survey and the benefits to a company in doing the survey. Kayess provided an update on the audit progress. A number of businesses have already completed the survey.

The Group is in the process of establishing an Incident Database. The objective of the Database is to share safety events and the learnings arising from these events that have a broader industry concern.

It was agreed that members of the Group will trial the Database tool for efficiency and ease of use.

CONTACT engineering@weldaustralia.com.au | VISIT weldaustralia.com.au Q3 | September 2021

49

WELD AUSTRALIA’S

MEMBER DIRECTORY Our new Member Directory provides all company members free exposure on our website. Every Corporate, Premium Corporate and Industry Group member can create a listing in the Directory with contact details, a logo, a short description of the business and their services, and industries served.

The following member types are eligible to have a listing in the Member Directory: • Industry Group Members (always displays at top of results, logo listing and Industry Group badge) • Premium Corporate Members (displays above corporate member listings, logo listing and Premium Corporate Badge) • Corporate Members (standard logo listing)

HOW TO SET UP YOUR MEMBER DIRECTORY LISTING You can create your listing from within your Weld Australia profile. Just log in and select ‘My Business Listing’ from the dropdown menu under your name.

Click on ‘Create’, fill in your company’s details, then hit submit. It’s as easy as that! Listings are approved by Weld Australia prior to going live, so there may be a delay between you submitting a listing and it appearing in the directory.

Visit the Member Directory 50

Australian Welding

Enrol in a Fusion Welding Course Today

Enrol in a fusion welding course at any of the Advanced Welder Training Centres listed below.

ACT Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) cit.edu.au 81 Mildura Street, Fyshwick There are two fusion welding courses that adhere to ISO 9606 Qualification test of welders on Training.gov.au. This is the authoritative source of nationally recognised training and Registered Training Organisations (RTOs). These two courses were developed in Victoria in 2018 and use augmented reality welding simulators as a key component of the training.

Transition Workers To be awarded a certificate for the Course in Fusion Welding to AS/NZS ISO 9606 for Transition Workers, you must successfully complete seven units of competency (four core and three elective).

Core units: • Simulate fusion welding processes using augmented reality equipment • Identify welding processes, safe welding practices and use of hand and power tools • Interpret and apply AS/NZS ISO 9606 for fusion welding processes • Perform fusion welding procedures to meet the procedures of ISO 9606-1 (Steels – carbon steels) Experienced Welders To be awarded a Statement of Attainment for the Course in Fusion Welding to AS/NZS ISO 9606 for Experienced Welders, you must successfully complete three units of competency (one core and two elective). The core unit is: Interpret and apply AS/NZS ISO 9606 for fusion welding processes.

Further Information For further information, contact: training@weldaustralia.com.au

Queensland TAFE Queensland tafeqld.edu.au • Cairns Campus: Gatton, Newton, Eureka and, Wilkinson Streets, Manunda • Townsville (Trade Centre Bohle) Campus: 763 Ingham Road, Bohle • Toowoomba Campus: 100 Bridge Street, Toowoomba City • Ashmore Campus: Benowa Road & Heeb Street, Ashmore • Nambour Campus: 91 Windsor Road, Burnside • Bundaberg Campus: 118 Walker Street, Bundaberg West South Australia TAFE SA Regency Campus tafesa.edu.au 137 Days Road, Regency Park Tasmania Tasmanian Minerals and Energy Council tasminerals.com.au 13 Wellington Street, Burnie Victoria Box Hill Institute boxhill.edu.au 465 Elgar Road, Box Hill Bendigo TAFE bendigotafe.edu.au 23 Mundy Street, Bendigo Federation University federation.edu.au Lydiard Street South, Ballarat

Q3 | September 2021

51

Securing the Future of

Australia’s Welding Industry

weldaustralia.com.au | office@weldaustralia.com.au | +61 2 8748 0100