The customer wants the welder records for a batch of frames
A batch of structural frames is ready to ship. The customer's inspector asks for the welding procedure used and the qualification records of the welders who made them. The office opens the welding folder. Two of the three welders' certificates are there; one looks like it expired in the spring. And nobody wrote down which welders worked on which frames, because the job was shared across the shop.
The frames are held while someone works it out.
Why welding records fall behind
Qualification records are kept for the audit, not for daily use. The certificates live in a folder, the renewal dates are in someone's diary if anywhere, and allocating welders to jobs is done by who is free rather than who is qualified for that process and position.
- Certificates are paper or scanned PDFs in a shared folder.
- Renewal and continuity dates are not tracked.
- Jobs do not say which procedure or qualification they need.
- Nobody records which welder welded which assembly.
- New starters' qualifications are not checked before they start on work that needs them.
What the gaps cost
Shipments held while records are pieced together. Work that has to be inspected or redone because it was welded by someone whose qualification did not cover it. Audit findings. And the cost of renewing qualifications in a rush because the dates were missed. What your jobs require is set by your customers, the standards they call up and your own quality system, and the records need to match.
The welding register we build
- Each welder has a record of their qualifications: process, material group, thickness range, position, joint type, the standard it was issued under, the issue date and the renewal or continuity dates your system requires.
- Certificates are uploaded or scanned, and the key details are read out for a person to confirm.
- Your welding procedures are held with their ranges, and each is linked to the qualifications that cover it.
- Jobs or assemblies that need a specific procedure are marked. When a welder is allocated, the tool checks that their qualifications cover it and warns if not.
- Welders scan the assembly or job when they start, so the record of who welded what is built as the work happens.
- Reminders go to the welding coordinator ahead of renewal and continuity dates, and a report shows qualification cover across the team.
| Question | Answered by |
|---|---|
| Who can weld this job? | Qualifications that cover the job's procedure |
| Who welded these frames? | Scans against the assembly |
| Whose qualifications are due? | Renewal and continuity reminders |
| Which procedure was used? | Procedure linked to the job |
| Where are we thin on cover? | Qualifications by process and position |
We build the records. What qualifications and procedures your work needs is for your welding coordinator, your customers and any inspection body to decide.
What changes
Records for a job are a report rather than a hunt through a folder. Renewals are planned ahead. Supervisors allocate work knowing who is covered for it. And the business can see where it depends on one or two people for a process or position, and plan training before a big contract needs it.
Estimators benefit as well. A new enquiry for stainless or aluminium welded assemblies can be checked against who is qualified for that material before it is quoted, so a lead time is not promised that depends on one welder being available every day of the job.
Would your welding records stand up?
- Welder certificates sit in a folder.
- A qualification has lapsed without anyone noticing.
- Nobody records which welder welded which assembly.
- Jobs are allocated by who is free.
- Customers have asked for welding records you struggled to produce.