A glimpse of the good and bad in the welding industry

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My former job had me in towns and cities talking to residents, visitors, and business owners about the good and bad in their communities. In some ways, my position with The WELDER involves something similar.

Since taking over as editor last spring, I’ve been fortunate to travel and visit shops and industry events to see and hear what is happening in manufacturing and fabrication—both the good and bad.

Just weeks into my job as editor of this magazine, my boss and The FABRICATOR Editor-in-Chief Dan Davis invited me to check out the Sharpe Products company headquarters. The New Berlin, Wis., fabricator opened its doors for an open house and were more than happy to give us and others a tour of their tube bending and laser cutting facility and its renovated customer experience center.

A couple of months later, I attended the SkillsUSA Championships in Atlanta. Teens and adults alike were impressed with the competitors in the three welding categories, and the word “future” came up more than once as they referred to the competitors as the future of the industry.

Most of what I heard in Atlanta was good. Most of what I heard in Marinette, Wis., was good, too. I took a drive north to this small city on the Wisconsin/Michigan border back in July to visit the Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs (NBT) welding camp at the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College Marinette campus.

These preteens and teens worked hard on their projects and spent a week of their precious summer in a welding lab. Some expressed a potential interest in pursuing welding as adults.

The camp instructor mentioned to me how vital welding is in the area, with a local employer base that builds ships and pressure vessels. He mentioned employers are looking for—you guessed it—more welders. Even though the college graduated a slew of welders this past school year, the calls for more welders from local employers have continued. I saw firsthand evidence of this on the road somewhere between Marinette and Green Bay on my drive back home; a sign “Welders Wanted” posted outside of a building. I've seen more of these ever since.

I’m sure I will hear more stories from people at FABTECH 2022 in Atlanta this fall. What do I expect to hear from exhibitors and visitors there? Both the good and bad. You want to talk about what’s going well at the shop? Please share. You want to talk about those challenges you’ve faced in 2022? Do tell.

In our FABTECH preview, I do mention the show will be a great place to network and share. I hope you will do just that.