Improving Global Quality of Life

9.2.2 Production using joining technology and economic viability
General
The costs of manufacturing technical products depend on the material and fabrication costs. The personnel
costs (wages and salaries, including incidental costs, of the people concerned with fabrication) and the
energy and operating material costs, including the depreciations, are parts of the fabrication costs.
In particular, the personnel costs are very different all over the world and can be influenced by the
manufacturers to a limited degree only unless they relocate the manufacture to other countries.
The incurred transport costs which will also rise with rising fuel prices however, must be borne in mind in
the case of such relocation as well.
Due to mechanisation and automation, the productivity in fabrication can be raised in such a way that the
fabrication costs are lower than without these measures. The operating material costs then become the
decisive factor amongst the manufacturing costs. Wages and salaries then rank in second place only.
The question to be asked however, is what location is sensible for such mechanised or automated
fabrication. The qualification of the operating personnel and the available infrastructure for energy and
input material supply as well as for the elimination of unplanned installation shutdowns then play a very
essential role in order to decrease downtimes. Therefore, the choice of a location for highly mechanised or
automated fabrication frequently leads to locations in the industrialised countries in North America, Europe
or East Asia (Japan and South Korea). Fabrication close to the customer plays an additional role in some
sectors (amongst others, manufacture of motor vehicles, energy generation installations, microelectronics).
If customer-specific deviations from standard products are to be allowed, high flexibility is required
in fabrication planning and fabrication control. This necessitates more stringent requirements on the
component supplies, the personnel and the installations and these cannot be satisfied everywhere.
Environmental regulations may be an additional cost factor.
These general deliberations also apply to welding plants and to other manufacturers using joining technology.
The economic significance of joining technology is dealt with in Chapter 3.4.
Production using welding and joining technology
In welding and joining technology, there are a few peculiarities in comparison with other fabrication
processes. For example, it is particularly difficult to establish and prove, on the finished product, the
quality of the results of the manufacturing processes using welding or joining. Therefore, special qualityassuring
measures accompanying the production and manufacture of the products are required in close
coordination with the design. These are:
Procedure qualification tests to be performed before the beginning of the fabrication.
Fabrication-accompanying tests on test specimens (destructive and non-destructive tests on work
specimens) and on the product (non-destructive intermediate tests).
Personnel qualification and recurring qualification tests for the executing and testing personnel.
Qualified personnel supervision.
Monitoring of the manufacturing plants (plant monitoring).
Recurring testing of the products during the utilisation depending on the stresses.
98 Improving Global Quality of Life Through Optimum Use and Innovation of Welding and Joining Technologies