Improving Global Quality of Life

important in meeting needs with respect to health and safety, education and training, and qualification and
certification among the areas covered.
To structure the development of its JoinIT service, TWI undertook a knowledge audit. The starting point was
an exercise to define the scale of the task in terms of the fields of interest. TWI technology specialists were
asked to identify the technologies and materials in which they had expertise. They identified 144 technology
classes and 30 material classes (steels – plain carbon, alloy and stainless; aluminium alloys; titanium;
plastics; ceramics; etc). This produced an initial knowledge matrix 144x30. Much of the knowledge across
this matrix, however, has specific sector relevance within the main sectors served by TWI – aerospace,
oil &gas, etc. Taking five main sectors therefore produces a knowledge matrix 144x30X5, i.e. initially 21,600
knowledge points.
There are of course a significant number of void points – none of the arc welding technologies applies to
plastics for example. Having eliminated these, TWI was then able to assess what useful information and
knowledge had already been captured relevant to each knowledge point, and where there were gaps to
be addressed. The type of material to be created was also based on an assessment of the likely users,
i.e. would it need to cater for a limited specialist audience, or would it have wide relevance in a training
context? In the nature of technology, this is a process of continuous evolution. When considering how to
package knowledge, TWI attempted to replicate with specially written material, the stages in the process of
consulting an expert directly, namely:
A simple question – these are addressed by answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs). These
are generally aimed to provide of the order of a single screen of information in easily understood
and ready to use format in say the fabrication shop of a small company.
A need to know a little more about the technology at issue. This is addressed by knowledge
summaries, painting a broader picture than the FAQ, and where relevant highlighting areas of
special concern or risk with respect to health and safety.
A need to understand and evaluate options. This is addressed by best practice guides which take a
still broader comparative approach to a body of related knowledge, for example “Joining low cost
stainless steel”, “Cutting” or “Brazing”. These are designed to provide the JoinIT user with sufficient
knowledge to arrive at a conclusion with respect to a realistic course of action.
A need to explore the technical or economic feasibility of a proposed solution. Software toolkits
have been developed to allow the JoinIT user to explore a range of “what ifs?”.
Alongside this investment in special content creation has been a range of complementary activities, which
are again ongoing, to develop the platform and the access, search and ancillary facilities of the web service.
Access control has been a particular concern so as to ensure that the rights of members to TWI core
information are properly preserved. The JoinIT service has proved extremely popular. It is accessed regularly by
many members and non-members, and several hundred new registrations for access are received each month.
6.5 Strategies to meet challenges in human and material resources,
demographic developments
IIW seeks to provide a forum which is recognised internationally and throughout the welding and joining
industry as a place where a cross-section of well-informed people from that industry and associated academic
establishments can meet, free of special interest pressures, to share their knowledge and experience. This
is done mainly through the IIW Working Units, for example Commission VIII is dealing with the matters of
health, safety and environment, where members are tasked to consider new technological developments to
debate the validity and conclusions of scientific reports on health and safety risks on these and established
processes, to seek a consensus view and to advise everyone in the industry on their best assessment of
levels of risk and how these might be managed most effectively and efficiently.
60 Improving Global Quality of Life Through Optimum Use and Innovation of Welding and Joining Technologies