By BRUCE MORRETT, product manager, solid wire division, Hobart Brothers

Purchasing the right wire in job-appropriate quantities, along with proper storage, will impact your shop's profits.

From large manufacturing or fabrication plants to one or two man welding shops, the purchasing, storage, and handling of welding wires can be a major headache. Not only do the responsible parties — generally purchasing managers or welding supervisors — need to select the correct product, but they also need to manage the welding wires appropriately and be certain they have ordered the most economical packaging.

What's the application?
The goal in selecting and purchasing any welding wire,of course, is to determine which one provides the bestproperties for the given application. The depositedweld metal should equal or exceed the properties of thebase metal and have approximately the samecomposition and physical properties. To that end,identifying base metal strength properties and chemical composition are important.

Some other factors to consider are welding position, welding current, joint design and fit-up, thickness and shape of the base material, any service conditions and/or welding specifications, and production efficiencies or job conditions that the finished product will encounter. By satisfying all of these requirements, purchasing managers and/or welding supervisors can make the assumption that they have made the best possible welding wire selection.

How much to stock?
After making the welding wire selection, an important question arises: what is the most economical package to order? For one or two man welding or fabrication shops, using a 33-lb. spool or smaller is probably the best choice. However, for large manufacturing or fabrication plants with multiple weld cells, there may be more economical options.

Consider the following scenario (refer to Figure 1 for full details): a fabrication shop that uses 10,000 lbs of welding wire annually currently orders 33-lb. spools of welding wire and spends 50.5 hours every month replacing that spool.

While the per unit price of a 33-lb. spool of welding wire is less upfront than a 60-lb. coil or a 400-lb. drum, consider how the time needed for frequent spool changeover translates into overall costs. With overhead and labor each at $20.00 per hour, the shop would spend $2,020.00 annually to change over its current welding wire package.

Changing to a 400-lb. drum would cause this shop to spend more minutes per changeover each time the drum is replaced (due to the sheer weight of the package), but fewer minutes over the course of the month — only 2505 minutes or 8.33 hours. It also reduces the number of actual changeovers needed per month. Based on the same overhead and labor, this shop has the potential to save $20,240.00 annually by moving to the larger package.

A word of caution: bigger is not always better, or rather, the least expensive. In this scenario (as in many real life plants), the largest potential for savings occurs in the change from spools to drums, as opposed to moving from, for example, a 400- to a 600-lb. drum. It is always best to consult a local welding distributor or filler metal manufacturer to determine what, if any, packaging change will yield the highest cost savings.

Storage and handling
Once a shop or plant receives the welding wire shipment, storage and handling becomes the next most important step in ensuring maximum welding performance and lowering downtime and costs. Remember, it makes no difference if a shop or plant purchases one pound or 10,000 pounds of welding wire — if it is not handled and stored properly, making quality welds could be difficult. But more importantly, making those welds could incur needless expenses in the form of rework or rejected parts or via the cost of damaged welding wire.

Regardless of the type of welding wire or package size purchased, always follow the manufacturer's recommendations for storage. Most manufacturers supply their welding wires in packaging that will protect them from the environment. Still, until opened, the welding wires should be stored in a dry, wellventilated environment to prevent moisture damage that could potentially void warranties associated with the product. Most welding wire manufacturers honor warranty of defective products for up to a year, but do not cover products damaged from exposure to elements — especially water, which will cause tell-tale rust on the outside of the wire.

Once opened, welding wires should be handled in the manner prescribed by the manufacturer. In the case of a mild steel solid wire, for example, any excess that will not be used for a period of time should be covered to prevent oxidation from occurring on the surface of the wire. The same is true for tubular (flux cored or metal cored) wires. Care should be taken to remove the product from the welding equipment and protect it from the atmosphere if the product is not going to be used again soon. In the case of reconditioning wires, any instructions for storage and reconditioning should come from the specific manufacturer.

As with most aspects of any business, there is no perfect solution to every situation purchasing managers and/or welding supervisors face within today's welding, manufacturing or fabricating environment. However, considering some of these basic guidelines can help ease the anxiety associated with purchasing, storing and managing welding wires. If further fine-tuning of the supplies crib is desired, sales representatives for most wire manufacturers have proprietary analysis tools that can closely match wire type and quantity needed for an operation's welding wire requirements.