GAWDA Edge Blog 
  

The big news this week is the unfortunate series of explosions at GAWDA member Scully Welding Supply in Collingdale, PA. A small fire broke out in the yard, which triggered a series of explosions for more than 20 minutes. From the videos I’ve seen, it was a scary sight.

It’s almost hard to believe the fact that it could have been much, much worse. Luckily, fire crews kept two larger propane tanks in check, one a18,000-gallon tank at 20 percent capacity and another a 30,000-gallon tank at 30 percent capacity. And thankfully, from what I’ve heard, those involved in the accident are doing OK. The latest news is that crews were called back to the scene a day later to extinguish hot spot fires among the rubble. Needless to say, it’s a bad situation, and we’re all hoping for the best.

For all gases and welding distributors, I’m sure it is a scary thought to think this can happen to your business. Whether or not you sell propane, there are plenty of potentially hazardous products in the gases and welding industry. Are you doing everything possible to prevent a disaster? We pray that it never happens, but does your company have a disaster plan if an accident occurs?

You can’t be everywhere at once, but keeping tabs on safety is a critical, even burdensome task. Does your company have a full-time safety and compliance officer? If it’s only a part-time responsibility, does your compliance officer have enough time to do their job well? See what others in the industry are doing in Welding & Gases Today.

 Let’s hope we can learn from this disaster and hopefully make sure it never happens again.

If you’re anything like me, you don’t know what to make of the controversy between Airgas and Air Products. Air Products has been trying to acquire Airgas for about 10 months, and everything seems like a carefully played chess match leading up to Airgas’ annual meeting on September 15. As it approaches, I’ve been trying to get a grasp on everything that has taken place.

The feud has now made its way into a New York Times blog from UConn Law Professor Steven M. Davidoff, which dissects the latest moves by each party involved and their potential implications. Why did Airgas send a letter to the Delaware court? Why exactly is Air Product proposing a bylaw amendment to move Airgas’ next annual meeting all the way up to January 2011? Davidoff puts it in terms you can wrap your head around. NB – It’s infused with Davidoff’s opinion, so don’t take it all as fact.

Last week, Airgas sent a letter to its shareholders stating, among many other things, “If Air Products truly wants to acquire Airgas, it knows what to do. It must offer a price that fairly compensates you—our stockholders—or terminate its efforts.”

The NYT blog brings up an important point that seems to draw on this statement: “Whether Airgas intended it, the events of this week tell the market that it certainly is for sale at the right price.”

Is a takeover imminent? What impact do you think it will have on other distributors if it happens?

The shortage of skilled welders is a well-known fact, and I think it’s great that many GAWDA members are working with schools and in other avenues to promote the trade. Who, if not you, is going to look out for the profession? These are your customers.  So what can you do to make sure the profession thrives? Are we focusing our energies in the right areas?

I came across a study today which indicated that a stigma around blue-collar jobs is partly to blame for the current blight. That stigma is proliferated by parents and educators who direct children toward college as the only path to a financially secure and fulfilling career, even if this is far from the truth.

Growing up, I was instilled with the notion that a college degree is a minimum requirement for most jobs. At college, I met a lot of people who still had no idea what they wanted to do, but they went to college because they were supposed to. How can we change this attitude?

I am not a welder, but a writer. In seventh grade home ec class, we did a research project on careers we were interested in. My teacher took me aside and told me that I shouldn’t aspire to be a writer because writers don’t make enough money. Still, I pursued writing because I loved it. Much in the same way I could not be deterred, you cannot make someone become a welder. You can only provide opportunities for students to be exposed to the welding trade.

Throughout my schooling, I was never exposed to skilled trades. Whose responsibility is it? You may have a hard time convincing schools to give more weight to skilled trades. But you can work with the schools to make a difference. Expose students to careers in the industry and engage them early. Awe them and inspire them. Get them before they’ve already chosen a career and make sure they see the welding industry as a viable option.

These are your customers. What are you doing to make sure they are plentiful for generations to come?

In the tradition of the casual Friday blog entry, started by my predecessors at the GAWDA Edge blog, here’s an interesting video to supplement the latest issue of GAWDA Edge. As you learned in the August issue that came out yesterday, Bellingham Technical College’s Welding Rodeo is a welding sculpture competition. At the end of the contest, sculptures are auctioned off to raise money for scholarships.

Here’s a video of one of the sculptures being auctioned off from this year’s event. It was made from the mold of a female model and welded together using scrap metal.

Take a guess how much it went for. How much would you pay for it? (Don’t forget it goes to a good cause.)

Want to know? You might be surprised. Watch and find out.

Here’s another view:

Now that it’s August, a lot of people are thinking about “back-to-school.” I’ve been talking with GAWDA distributors over the last week about how they work with schools. I’m amazed by the efforts that welding and gases distributors are putting in to help future generations of welders. The best part is that they aren’t doing it for selfish reasons. Some companies contribute time, others contribute equipment or money.

One of the most unique projects I’ve seen has to be the welding rodeo, which originated at Bellingham Technical College (BTC). The event is a competition where amateur and professional welding teams face off to weld sculptures out of scrap metal. BTC instructor Don Anderson says the rodeo, now in its 9^th year, has helped turn the school’s welding program from a struggling program to one with a 100-person wait-list. He also says he couldn’t have done it without the support from distributors and suppliers.

The welding rodeo is a great example of how teamwork can lead to some of the best solutions. BTC had students and a venue; distributors and suppliers had equipment to use for the competition and for prizes. Individually, each side could not have duplicated the outcome that they have achieved together.

For distributors, schools are similar to other customers in many ways. It’s important to find out what their needs are to help develop solutions. (In this case, putting together a welding rodeo gets you bonus points for going above and beyond the call of duty.) And by teaming up with schools, distributors not only helped build future welders, they ultimately helped build future customers.

We’ll have more about the welding rodeo in the August issue of GAWDA Edge. In the meantime, tell me about an instance where you worked with a customer to develop an innovative solution to their problem.

Over the last few days, I’ve been talking to distributors about training their salespeople. Everyone has a lot of great strategies for getting the most out of their young salespeople. One of the things I’ve been discussing is the skills that make a good salesperson. The distributors agree: personality is the ultimate key. But it’s where they don’t agree that I’m most interested in.

I’ve heard some different perspectives, and I want to know what you all think. Here’s the question: Let’s say you are in charge of hiring a new salesperson for your company. Would you prefer someone with 5 years of sales experience or someone with 5 years of technical (welding, cutting, joining, etc.) experience? Let’s assume both candidates have great personalities. There are two basic schools of thought on this.

One side says, “I’ll take the sales experience. You can always teach the technical know-how through manufacturer product training. It’s more important to know sales skills that only come from experience, such as time-management, customer service and self-motivation.”

The other side says, “Give me the welder. You can teach selling, but there’s a risk they won’t like the industry. On top of that, customers respond to a knowledgeable salesperson, so someone with technical experience has a head start.”

What do you think? I want to hear your argument for picking one side over the other.

Photo: avlxyz

While you’re grilling this Fourth of July weekend, here’s a little challenge for you to think about.

For the National SillsUSA Welding Fabrication Competition last week, students were presented with the task of welding a barbeque grill in 6.5 hours.

Students were provided with the following materials:

-Four 1/8” x 36” x 24” mild steel plates
-Two 1/8” x 24” x 24” mild steel plates
-Four Steel Hinges: 4.5” X 4.5”
-Two Caster Wheels Stationary 4″ X 4-1/2″
-Two Caster Wheels Swivel 4″ X 4-1/2″
-Three 1/8” x 1” x 1” 10 ft length angle irons
-One 1/4” x 48” x 24” expanded steel mesh

Welding equipment and consumables were also provided.

Students were required to complete 5 each SMAW, GMAW, GTAW, FCAW welds of at least 3” in length. Judging criteria included safety, welding skills, cutting skills, teamwork and fabrication accuracy. And believe it or not, after all that, students had to complete a written test as well.

The payoff was a half tuition scholarship to welding school worth more than $13,500. Not bad a for a few hours’ welding.

So savor those burgers and hot dogs this weekend, and just be glad you didn’t have to build the grill you’re using.

Two recent lawsuits have sought to establish this line. Employees of T-Mobile USA filed a suit against the company, claiming they were expected to respond to messages outside of work hours using company cell phones. It raises the question of when employees should be paid for what they are doing.

As the workplace has changed, so have the rules that govern what constitutes “work”. It used to be simple: if you’re in the office, you’re working. If you’re not in the office, it’s personal time. Customers in this day and age, however, expect service around the clock, and if your company wishes to remain competitive, it is often necessary to provide that service. This may not be a huge issue for salaried workers, who are accustomed to late nights without extra pay, but it carries heavy consequences for hourly workers seeking overtime pay.

More and more companies are adopting stricter policies concerning cell phone usage outside of the office. What’s your company’s policy? Do you have one?

In less than a month, Calgary, Canada, will play host to the world’s largest vocational skills competition. Workers from around the world will journey to the event for a week of trade and craft skills competitions that will display the technical and vocational prowess of each country’s representatives. And, of course, one of the skills that is put to the test at the event is welding.

A major goal of these games is to promote awareness of and education for skilled vocational trades throughout the world. Welding, along with other trades such as plumbing, IT networking and mobile robotics, is a skill set that will always continue to be necessary in the U.S. and throughout the world. WorldSkills hopes to promote the development of these skills from a young age. Participants in the competition must be under the age of 23.

These games seem like a great way to get young people interested and involved in such an important part of worldwide industry. Not only do they promote a unified international workforce, but they champion skills that are vital to the vitality and prosperity of our country and the global economy.

I’ve been busy all week finalizing the text for the August edition of GAWDA Edge. Being a roller coaster enthusiast, my favorite story is the piece on gases and welding work in roller coaster design and construction. However, the issue also includes stories from mentors and mentees in the gases and welding industry, a look at GAWDA’s upcoming Convention in San Antonio, some social networking tips and much more. With this issue off my desk and out of my way now, it’s time to begin work on the September issue. I’ll be sure to include stories related to the issue in the blog whenever I come across them and continue to keep my readers updated on the status of the publication. For now, I bid everyone a good weekend and look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions on the August GAWDA Edge which hits inboxes everywhere on the 20th.