How to choose the right robot welding training program for you

Welders are an inte­gral part of the man­u­fac­tur­ing work­force today. As more and more weld­ing becomes auto­mat­ed, it is nec­es­sary for these welders to be trained to oper­ate weld­ing robots, instead of just learn­ing the skills of weld­ing itself. There are many dif­fer­ent paths some­one can take to obtain the weld­ing robot train­ing need­ed to become suc­cess­ful in the industry.

There are sev­er­al places where a welder can train to use weld­ing torch­es, as well as robots, to com­plete a weld­ing appli­ca­tion. Accord­ing to Edu​ca​tion​-Por​tal​.com, com­mu­ni­ty, tech­ni­cal col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties through­out the Unit­ed States are now offer­ing cer­tifi­cates and even degree pro­grams for weld­ing tech­nol­o­gy tracks that include cours­es in robotics.

But, how do you choose which robot­ic weld­ing train­ing pro­gram is right for you? Is it bet­ter to get a cer­tifi­cate or a diplo­ma? First off, it is good to know that many com­pa­nies are look­ing for welders that have hands-on expe­ri­ence with weld­ing and using robot­ics. So make sure that the pro­gram has hands-on and lab com­po­nents that give you that experience.

A cer­tifi­cate only requires around 30 cred­it hours of work, so it is the short­est way to weld­ing cer­ti­fi­ca­tion. After the pro­gram is com­plet­ed, welders take a cer­ti­fi­ca­tion exam through the Amer­i­can Weld­ing Soci­ety. These weld­ing tech­nol­o­gy pro­grams often look at fab­ri­ca­tion, blue­prints and oth­er weld­ing tech­niques help­ful to the welder.

Welders who are look­ing for a more in-depth train­ing pro­gram for robot weld­ing can turn to a tech­ni­cal col­lege or uni­ver­si­ty for their asso­ciate and bach­e­lor degree pro­grams. These stu­dents will take class­es in safe­ty prac­tices, as well as tech­ni­cal math and applied sci­ences to bet­ter pre­pare them for the weld­ing world. Those who end up with a bachelor’s degree usu­al­ly have a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Weld­ing Engi­neer­ing Tech­nol­o­gy at the end of their school career.

There are many dif­fer­ent fac­tors when look­ing into these pro­grams. Peo­ple have to con­sid­er how much time they want to ded­i­cate to a weld­ing robot­ics train­ing pro­gram. If they want to ded­i­cate a year, they could choose the cer­tifi­cate pro­gram. Those get­ting the bachelor’s degree would be most like­ly ded­i­cat­ing four years of their life to train­ing. Mon­ey is anoth­er fac­tor, with a cer­tifi­cate pro­gram cost­ing sig­nif­i­cant­ly less than a bachelor’s degree. But, there may be grants and oth­er fund­ing avail­able for those who decide on a bachelor’s degree.

Where do you go once you com­plete your cer­tifi­cate or degree? Well, you can work for a robot­ics com­pa­ny, a man­u­fac­tur­er who deals with weld­ing automa­tion or a robot­ics inte­gra­tor like Robots​.com. Robots​.com expects its tech­ni­cians and engi­neers to be high­ly trained in weld­ing robot­ics, as well as oth­er robot­ic applications.

Robots​.com, a cer­ti­fied inte­gra­tor for Fanuc, Motoman, ABB, Uni­ver­sal Robots, and KUKA, works with com­pa­nies all over the Unit­ed States to cre­ate the best weld­ing robot sys­tems and cells avail­able. For more infor­ma­tion about Robots​.com, con­tact us online or at 740−251−4327.