Resources

Welding standards, explained properly.

Procedure qualification, welder certification, productivity measurement and traceability — written for the people who have to make the paperwork survive an audit.

Traceability and compliance

What a weld traceability record actually has to contain Traceability means being able to start from one weld on a finished assembly and reconstruct who welded it, to which procedure, with which consumable and parent material, and what the inspection found. Here is the full chain and where it usually breaks. 5 min read

Productivity measurement

Arc time factor vs duty cycle — two numbers people keep confusing Arc time factor measures how much of a shift is spent welding. Duty cycle is a machine rating from IEC 60974-1. They sound alike, they are unrelated, and mixing them up produces capacity plans that do not survive contact with the shop floor. 4 min read

Welder qualification

ISO 9606-1 welder qualification — what it covers and how it lapses An ISO 9606-1 certificate does not simply expire on a date. It stays valid only while continuity is confirmed at six-month intervals, and it covers a defined range of process, material, thickness, diameter and position. 4 min read

Procedure qualification

WPS, pWPS and PQR — what each document is and the order they happen A pWPS is the draft, the PQR (or WPQR) is the test evidence, and the WPS is the approved instruction the welder works to. Here is what each one contains and why the order cannot be reversed. 4 min read