WeldTrace - Blog by K S Adityan

How to digitize your welding management workflow

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 15:39:00 +1000

Welding management, especially the information management part of the fabrication workflow, is traditionally a labor intensive process. When a system is not well designed and implemented, data that are not captured and human errors when entering data could prove costly for fabricators.

A large investment in a software program need not necessarily ensure that the systems that work around it are followed at all times.

In this article I will show you how you can digitise your welding workflow and quality management system inexpensively and ensure that the system stays implemented with QR code labels, mobile app and the instant messaging features in WeldTrace.

Availability of Information

It goes without saying that essential information must be available to all those who need them at times when they need them.

Like for example, the shop supervisor needs to have access to the welding procedures that will be used in a job and must know which of the welders are qualified for those procedures and are current, in terms of continuity.

The welding inspectors need to know the specifications, both code requirements and client specs, to classify the defects.

Similarly, the welding coordinators need to know the NDE requirements to order tests and set acceptance criteria.

Welders and boilermakers need access to fabrication drawings, weld maps, MTCs or at least the heat numbers for the materials that would be used and perhaps the calibration status of the equipment they would use.

The fabrication or shop manager must know the status of the jobs, so the finished product could be processed further, next set of work could be lined up and so on.

So, it is essential that these need to be in digital form and in a central repository of data that is accessible and that is always updated. This digital data repository will be one source of truth that everyone would turn to and it should keep track of changes, like who updates what, when and so on.

That would rule out Excel spreadsheets as accessing them in the shop would be difficult and it can't keep track of changes. Moreover, it can't store all the files, like drawings, specifications, WPS and the like.

Software programs offered by welding equipment manufacturers are very expensive. If you need to give access to all your fabrication team, the per seat cost will be prohibitive for most small and medium sized fabricators.

There is a relatively inexpensive solution in WeldTrace that you can use to not only digitise build your welding workflow or quality management system. Digitisation now doesn't have to be an expensive affair.

How easy is it to find data?

A digitised welding management system should also be easily accessible and easy to use, especially easy to find information. If your team members cannot easily find what they are looking for, they are less likely to ask someone or put in that extra effort of finding it. So, if everyone should follow a system, that system should be easy to use and the data, be it drawings, WPS, welder qualifications or a traveler, should be right at their fingertips.

In WeldTrace you can upload drawings, MTCs, test reports as well as other documents. All of them are stored in neatly arranged repositories and are easy to find. There is a search function in each of those modules.

You can also digitally create a weld map on a drawing and automatically create welds from that process. The digital lifecycle of a weld joint can begin from your computer. There is no need to use expensive software like Bluebeam that you cannot use to manage welding workflow.

You can also generate QR code labels for welds and affix them next to the welds. Welders can use the WeldTrace mobile app and scan the QR codes and get right to the weld's detail page. From there they can access all the weld data and the weld map, drawing, weld type, WPS, MTC and if they had completed the weld, claim it as well. Imagine how much of data entry can be avoided and how you can also save on labor and keep the information up to date.

The welders can also view their qualifications and their status in terms of continuity for the processes they had qualified.

Similarly, the welding inspectors can perform fit up, record welding parameters and complete the post weld visual inspection and even take a photograph of the weld using the mobile app.

Costly errors in data entry as a result of poor handwriting, missing bits of paper or files, people who can't recall what they had done if you need to find out who did what even a couple of days later can all be avoided by empowering your staff digitally.

Information Exchange

A digital information system should also facilitate easy exchange of information between the different team members. Meetings are time consuming and they remove people from their work spot. To improve productivity and efficiency, information exchange, like raising a question and quickly getting a reply, sending a status updates, getting notified are all essential.

That is why we built an instant messaging module in WeldTrace. Just like the popular instant messaging apps like Whatsapp, team members can send messages to others from within a weld's detail page.

The mobile app will push the notification to the person to whom the message is sent and they get notified and can respond immediately.

The messages are saved and can even be printed if required.

A fast turnaround for queries will not only improve the operational efficiency, but it will also result in a better adoption of the system and bring faith to it.

WeldTrace can be that ecosystem you always wished that you had.

Updating data is labor intensive

Welding project and quality management inherently are labor intensive processes. Someone has to plan the weldments, allocate welders to jobs, mark them as completed, ask welding inspectors to inspect the joints, coordinate with the testing agencies for NDT, update the weld logs with results.

Invariably, in a small fabrication facility, it is the responsibility of one person and in larger facilities or in large projects, these tasks need to be performed by multiple people. The tasks are usually repetitive and even with the best of intent, human errors are unavoidable and such mistakes could be very expensive.

Data entry is also hated because of its repetitive nature and a third person entering data means additional labor which is expensive. If the data is not captured right at the time, it could be lost.

So, those who perform the tasks should be allowed to enter or digitally capture that activity right then and there. The system should also make that process easy.

WeldTrace has a built in workflow that pushes the fabrication process in steps like planning, allocation of WPS and welders to a weld, marking a weld as completed, inspected, ready for testing, tested, etc. Every activity is recorded and is completely auditable.

Welders, welding inspectors and supervisors can use the WeldTrace mobile app to scan a QR code label generated in WeldTrace to quickly access the details of a weld joint and update the data, saving time and keeping the data real time.

As WeldTrace is hierarchical and built with access control restrictions based on roles, only those roles that are allowed to perform certain activities will be able to do so. This will prevent the system getting manipulated and your customers will have full faith in your process as well as data.

Intelligent digitisation that leads to improved productivity, morale and best of all peace of mind to all the team members doesn't have to be expensive or hard to implement.

Analytics

Digitisation can bring rich rewards as you can learn from the data that is captured. That is if the data is presented in charts, graphs as well as in raw form, so you can slice and dice it to find where your system is performing well and where it is not.

Digital technology has advanced so much, it is not only easily accessible, it has also become incredibly cheaper in the form of cloud based software such as WeldTrace.

Due to the advent of cloud computing, big data analytics does not have to cost you an arm and a leg. The simplicity of such technology means that you don't need to know anything about data analytics to do it.

We have built WeldTrace with the latest in cloud computing technology that makes performing data analysis so easy. You can run queries with a few clicks and see data such as which of your welder has performed most welds, which one has performed most weld inches, what were the most common defects, how many welds were performed during a certain period and you can imagine every such benefit.

Based on the data you can improve your system and bring credibility and respect to your business.

WeldTrace is so easy to learn and implement, you can hit the ground running if you choose WeldTrace for your digitisation journey. Contact us and we will show you how easy and inexpensive it can be to digitise your welding management system.

These are just some of the benefits of digitising your welding quality management system. WeldTrace will make it easy to digitise your welding management system and at a fraction of the cost of what you may have thought you need to spend.

Get WeldTrace Now

Welding and NDT Reports for Saudi Aramco Contractors

Tue, 05 Jul 2022 14:38:51 +1000

This blog post will show Saudi Aramco contractors how to generate welding and NDT reports in Saudi Aramco format and they can effectively use WeldTrace to fulfil all the requirements of SAEP-1160.

SAEP-1160 is a Saudi Aramco Engineering Procedure (SAEP) for Tracking And Reporting of Welding, NDT And Pressure Testing For Capital Projects. This document establishes minimum requirements and responsibilities for the tracking and reporting of production welding, welder performance, NDE tracking and pressure test verification associated with construction activities at Saudi Aramco facilities.

Full Traceability

Clause 6.1 of this procedure requires: Contractor to make sure that data management and tracking systems shall have all relevant information to ensure material traceability of each components/item and weld joint. It shall link with the field material control record and shall have the capability to validate the input.

WeldTrace offers full material traceability. Firstly, it has a repository for storing information about materials like heat number, material type, dimensions, quantity on hand, location, supplier as well as uploading the mill test certificate. (Read more about in this knowledge base article).

You can then select a weld and add the heat numbers of the materials welded as well as the batch numbers of the welding consumables. Once heat numbers are selected, the weld will associate with the heat numbers and you may generate turnover packs, MDR or project data book with all the details, including the mill test certificates of these materials for selected drawings or equipment (Read more about in this knowledge base article).

Track Welders

This procedure also requires tracking of welders and their performance: "The contractor's data management and tracking system shall maintain Welder/Welding Operator Registration and Track list of all project approved welders. Note : Data management system shall manage and report the welder qualification expiry and renewal at 6 months interval linked to show evidence of continuity with supporting by the applicable NDE method records)"

With WeldTrace, managing WPS, welders, their WPQs/WQTRs is very easy. Only the qualified WPS, qualified and current welders will be available to be selected in projects. Once welders are assigned and welds are completed, welders’ continuity logs will be automatically updated.

Warning emails will be sent at the end of five months of inactivity (i.e. if a welder had not welded to a process for five months).

Reporting of Defects

"The contractor's database shall report weld rejection rate by both joint and linear basis separately for Welder/Welding Operator and Project weekly / cumulative."

The weekly welder repair rate report gives a breakdown of joints welded by welder for the week and cumulative figures both for number of joints and on linear basis in the Saudi Aramco format SATR-W-2013. (Read more about in this knowledge base article).

If a weld is found to have a defect, WeldTrace provides an interface where one of the welders used for the joint can be picked and the length of defect can be assigned. Reports are available to calculate the rejection rate.

Welder Performance Reports

"Contractor shall track Welder Classification based on welder performance criteria and shall be categorized as A, B, C, D based the criteria defined in applicable procedure."

Welder classification report in WeldTrace will classify welders from A to D based on their performance. If % Reject Inches (linear i.e. number of inches rejected/number of inches RT) is less than or equal to 0.2 and % Reject Joint (count i.e. number of joints rejected/number of joints RT) is less than or equal to 5, then the welder is classified as A. There are similar values for the classifications B, C & D. This report is available to be viewed, generated as a PDF file as well as in Excel format.

Weld Status Reports

Apart from these specific requirements, there are some other reports that Saudi Aramco requires their contractors to submit on a weekly basis. Weekly and Cumulative Weld Status Report SATR-W-2019 and Weld Summary, Welder Performance and Non-Destructive (NDT) Tracking System Report SATR-W-2008 are a couple of such reports. Copies of these files that are generated from WeldTrace are available for download in this page in our help centre: Aramco Reports.

If you have specific queries on how to manage the welding data for Saudi Aramco projects, please get in touch with us.

Get WeldTrace Now

How to get certified to EN 1090 & ISO 3834?

Sun, 09 Jan 2022 16:01:41 +1000

With WeldTrace, you can get your welding management system compliant to the requirements of the standards like ISO 3834-2 and EN 1090-2 and easily achieve certification to these standards.

Certification to these standards will allow a manufacturer to demonstrate their capability to produce products of the specified quality, be it prescribed be the clients or required by regulatory standards.

In this blog, I will try to outline the major elements of these standards and how you may achieve compliance to them using WeldTrace and how to demonstrate compliance when you are going for certification audits.

Review of Requirements

The standards require that contractual requirements are reviewed by the manufacturer and that all the information necessary to carry out the manufacturing operations is complete and available prior to the commencement of the work.

In WeldTrace you can create projects and keep all the documents related to that project in one place. There are separate repositories for documents, drawings, MTCs, inspection & NDE reports within each project. Records such as WPS, PQR, WPQ/WQTR that would be used across all projects have common repositories. All these repositories have document control features built-in. Revision control and archiving features would prevent obsolete or superseded documents from being used inadvertently.

You may create contract review records, inspection and test plans (ITP), project schedule and the like and upload them to the documents folder. As each repository is access controlled, you need not worry about certain roles getting access to some of these documents that may be commercially sensitive.

Sub-contracting

The standards require that necessary information be supplied to the sub-contractors and that the sub-contractors work under the order and responsibility of the manufacturer.

WeldTrace is not only a cloud-based software, it is actually a cloud-based platform where your company can set up separate projects for each of your sub-contractors and have full control over each project, or invite users from sub-contracting companies to work in your projects.

You can also import sub-contractors' welding documents and add their welders and their qualifications to your account. You can establish complete control of the portion of work executed by the sub-contractors. As WeldTrace maintains history of all changes, the software is a great tool to demonstrate compliance records during audits.

Welding & Inspection Personnel

The standards require that the welders are qualified by an appropriate test and competent welding coordination personnel have responsibility for quality activities and that their tasks and responsibilities are clearly defined.

WeldTrace has an easy to use welder qualification module that will guide you through each step of the qualification or certification process in accordance with the code rules. You will be able to see range qualified values as you change the welding data.

You may also import welder qualification data that you would have already created and with an easy to use wizard, you can create hundreds of records in a matter of minutes and manage all the welders and their certificates in one place.

Welder continuity is maintained automatically by WeldTrace. Notifications are sent when welder certifications are about to expire. Read more about it in our knowledge base article here.

Records of boilermakers or fitters can also be maintained in WeldTrace.

WeldTrace has defined roles to manage projects. Apart from project administrators who have overall control over a project, people can be assigned the role of a Welding Supervisor or Welding Coordinator and Welding Inspector.

WeldTrace is workflow based with its built-in gated processes with checks. The users allocated to these roles will be able to access only the relevant functions, such as planning, allocation of WPS and welders to to weld joints, visual inspection, creation of NDE requests and so on.

Equipment

The standards require that the manufacturer shall maintain a list of essential equipment, their qualification records are maintained when specified and appropriate test records are documented.

WeldTrace offers you the ability to create a list of all your welding equipment. If there are automated welding machines, you can also add their qualification details as well.

This feature allows you to enter the calibration details of instruments or other equipment and maintain their calibration details too. In the equipment list you will be able to see the number of calibrations that are current, calibrations that would expire within one month and the number of calibrations that have expired. You will also receive email notifications when the calibrations are about to expire.

Welding & Related Activities

The standards require that the manufacturer carries out adequate production planning, identifies processes and steps required in production, identifies by batches, components or parts, prepares welding procedures, qualify the procedures prior to production, control of procedures and work instructions.

WeldTrace is a comprehensive welding production management software that has a built-in workflow for welding activities. The workflow makes it easy to manage the entire process from planning of welds through to completion, testing and handover. Read more about managing welds in a series of articles in our knowledge base.

You can create tags (a tag can be described as an object e.g. a pipe spool, pressure vessel, a process skid or a structure) to organize welds by one or more drawings and thereby welds contained within those drawings. You may also create work packages and record dimensions for preparing as-built drawings. Click here to read more about this feature.

Drawings are fundamental for creating any welded product. So, WeldTrace has been designed in such a way that it is super easy to manage your drawings and to create weld maps. This subject is quite extensive to cover in a blog, so you may read how you can manage drawings in WeldTrace in a series of articles in our knowledge base site.

WeldTrace offers automated workflows for creation of pWPS, PQR, WPS and WPQ/WQTR that fully support code rules and validate them as you enter the welding data. You may also bring your own welding documents created elsewhere to WeldTrace. You can read more about it in our knowledge base site.

Only the qualified welding procedures can be employed in projects and welders who are not qualified to a particular WPS or those whose continuity had expired cannot be allocated to a job.

You may watch the videos explaining how you can control your production welding workflow in WeldTrace in our YouTube channel.

Materials & Consumables

The standards require that the manufacturer establish procedures for control of parent materials and welding consumables, including their identification and storage.

Obviously being a software WeldTrace cannot help you in the physical controls like identification, storage and handling of materials and consumables. However, WeldTrace will make it easy to establish and maintain the processes that will help you achieve the desired outcomes.

There are two types of repositories in WeldTrace for managing materials and consumables. There is a common area for the materials and consumables that may be used across projects, where you can add and maintain the heat numbers, mill test certificates and dimensions of the materials that would be available for use in all the projects. There are also separate such repositories in each project.

You can read more about these in our knowledge base site - common repositories and project specific repositories.

WeldTrace also has an extensive base metals list with over 5000 standard materials from ASME, AWS, ASTM, ISO and other standards. You can pick the material type when adding and managing your materials.

The WeldTrace Library also has over 3000 filler metals. You can use them when creating consumables or when writing welding procedures or creating welder qualifications.

Post-weld Heat Treatment

The standards require that the manufacturer is responsible for the specification and the performance of any post-weld heat treatment and that a record of the heat treatment is made during the process. The standard also requires that the PWHT record demonstrate the specification was followed and is traceable to the product.

WeldTrace has a post-weld heat treatment module for specifying and managing the PWHT of welds. You will be able to create and manage requests for PWHT of welds, enter results, upload test reports, retest and monitor the progress. Read more about this feature in our knowledge base article here.

You can also enter the PWHT specifications when creating welding procedures in WeldTrace and when you add welding procedures created elsewhere in WeldTrace.

Inspection & Testing

The standards require that the manufacturer implements an inspection and testing system at appropriate points in the manufacturing process to assure conformity with contract requirements. ISO 3834 specifies the details of the checks that are to be performed before welding, during welding and after welding and that the inspection and test status is maintained throughout the manufacturing process.

With WeldTrace you can easily satisfy these requirements and create a robust inspection and testing regimen.

Stage-wise visual inspection checklists as per the list prescribed in ISO 3834 has been integrated in WeldTrace. Visual inspection may be performed by welding inspectors and the checklists completed using tablets or smartphones in the field. They may even take photographs of welds and they can be included in the project data book or turnover pack. Read more about this feature in our knowledge base article here.

You can also create requests for non-destructive testing of welds, enter results, upload reports, retest, apply penalty, select tracer and monitor the progress of the testing. You can demonstrate compliance to progressive sampling too. Read more about this feature in our knowledge base article here.

You can manage pressure tests of assemblies too. Read more about this feature in our knowledge base article here.

Non-conformances

The standards require that the manufacturer implements systems to control non-conforming items and repairs and when repair is carried out, the items are re-inspected, tested and examined in accordance with the original requirements.

You can configure projects in WeldTrace to automatically create repair welds when a weld is marked as failed in visual inspection and non-destructive testing or NDE.

WeldTrace also allows you to pick the defects from an extensive list for each test type when a weld is marked as failed. Read more about it here.

You can also pick the defect classification when performing visual inspection and mark a weld as failed. Read more about it here.

You will be able to analyze the defects and their causes through an array of project reports and analytics.

Calibration

The standards require that the manufacturer is responsible for the appropriate calibration or validation of measuring, inspection and testing equipment and that the equipment used to assess the quality of the construction are suitably controlled and shall be calibrated or validated at specified intervals.

WeldTrace offers you the ability to create a list of all measuring, inspection and testing equipment.

You will be able to enter the calibration details. In the equipment list you will be able to see the number of calibrations that are current, calibrations that would expire within one month and the number of calibrations that have expired. You will also receive email notifications when the calibrations are about to expire.

Traceability

The standards require that identification and traceability are maintained throughout the manufacturing process, if required.

WeldTrace is full of features when it comes to handing this requirement of identification and traceability of welds, materials and their heat numbers, locations of welds, NDT status, location of repairs, batch numbers of filler metals, and so on. If you can think of a specific requirement in a client specification or contract, you can be rest assured that WeldTrace can handle it.

WeldTrace offers a weld mapping tool to mark-up welds on drawings and view drawings to navigate to the welds from the weld map.

WeldTrace has a built-in work flow for managing a weld's lifecycle from planning to allocating WPS and welders, stage-wise inspection, completion, different types of NDE, retests, automatic creation of repair welds, penalties, tracers and maintaining not only the traceability of all component parts at all times, but the history of all the changes made each and every time. It is very useful to demonstrate compliance during an audit.

Project calendar, Gantt chart, dashboard, alerts, progress bars and status counts will make managing fabrication projects that much easier.

There is an extensive list of articles about this in our help center. You may also like to watch this video in our YouTube channel.

Quality Records

The standards require that the manufacturer maintain quality records like welding procedures, inspection records, certificates of personnel, dimensional reports, records of repairs and numerous other records and that records are maintained for a period of five years or longer.

WeldTrace makes it easy to upload and store records of any kind and they are maintained indefinitely. Records are maintained in secure cloud servers and they can be accessed only by authorized users.

There are separate areas to upload and store test reports, documents, drawings, WPS, welder certificates and yet when you need to create a report with a select set of records for a single weld or for an equipment or for a whole project, you can easily get it done with just a few clicks. We call it the Data Book. The report will be a single PDF file with only the relevant records stitched in with bookmarks, table of contents in the order you choose. It will save you many hours of hard work and you will love it. All our clients do!

If you have certification to ISO 9001, WeldTrace will make compliance very easy. If you do not, it will be easy to obtain certification and prove compliance to EN 1090, BS EN ISO 3834 and ISO 9001.

ISO 3834-2 - Quality requirements for fusion welding of metallic materials;

EN 1090-2 - Execution of steel structures and aluminium structures - Part 2: Technical requirements for steel structures and easily achieve certification to these standards;

Get WeldTrace Now

Welding Quality and Compliance Management for Large EPC Projects

Fri, 25 Jun 2021 21:48:06 +1000

How do you manage contractors & their people?

In large EPC projects you typically find several subcontractors supplying fabricated components. They are mostly spread across different countries, each employing hundreds of welders. The quality culture could vary a great deal. So, you often end up facing questions like these:

How do you ensure that each contractor maintains their quality system and follows specifications and contractual requirements?
Are their welders welding to procedures they have qualified in?
Are their welders in continuity? Are continuity records maintained?
Are welding records maintained for full traceability?
How do you even trust if the data they are submitting is truthful and correct? Where is the oversight? Who performs routine audits?

These questions may sound familiar and you may recollect many more when facing audits as the welding manager or quality assurance manager of a project.

You may have tried countless training sessions, implemented written procedures, performed numerous quality system audits, issued non-conformance reports, pretty much to no significant improvement.

So, how do you bridge this vast gap of culture, language, system and other barriers to manage large projects as well as they should be? Please read on.

How do you manage the welding records?

The principal EPC contractor is ultimately responsible for the delivery of the project and its quality. That means taking up the responsibility of managing all the subcontractors and the quality of all their work.

It means managing tons of paperwork coming from different parts of the world at irregular schedules at best and lots of followup to get them.

You miss one record and it could potentially stop your team from going ahead with the completions and commissioning work for a system.

When you have fabricated parts that could each have hundreds of welds, it could mean tracking shop and field welds that may be in the tens of thousands, each with a set of records to account for full traceability.

The records are not limited to welding procedures, PQRs, welder qualification records, their continuity, material heat certificates, consumable batch certificates, inspection reports, NDE test reports, records of repair and retest, weld logs, weld maps on top of the associated as-built drawings, all with proper revision control and not superseded.

If this is what you are looking at the end of the project, imagine how well the project needs to be controlled to ensure that every one of these records are produced and maintained at the right time.

So, how do you manage this seemingly impossible task of managing hundreds of thousands of records? We offer a solution. Please read on.

How do you demonstrate welding QA/QC compliance?

Most EPC contractors use Excel or a home grown application to manage weld logs and traceability records. As record keeping for compliance is time consuming, requires diligence and is boring, a vast majority of the staff may try to shortcut the system without realizing their company's exposure to risks.

A decent welding QA/QC or quality audit could expose the fact that records are not kept regularly, personnel doing bulk updates of records for a few days or few weeks at one time, some of them may be erroneous or unverifiable as significant time had passed when the activity happened and when the record was created.

Codes, customer specifications, contractual requirements and the certification standards like AISC, ISO 3834 and ASME require a contractor to keep records up to date.

The system to demonstrate welding QA/QC compliance should be one that the head contractor and sub contractors use all the time and the data is available in near real time as possible. The system should create history or traces of who created or edited which record, the changes made and the data should be preserved for integrity, just like how you would expect internet banking to maintain records of all your transactions.

If the system that you use is not user friendly for the sometimes old fashioned, old school or not so tech savvy people employed in the fabrication industry, there is little hope of demonstrating compliance.

What you need is a system that is proven, reliable, easy to use and more than that your staff must be willing and eager to use on a daily basis. We have the just the solution you are looking for. Please read on.

How do you manage the risk of non-compliance?

Using systems, tools and perhaps a software to create WPS, PQR, welder qualifications and manage weld logs, test reports and the like are one part of what all contractors performing code work need. The other important part is how to effectively use such data and manage compliance and risks.

There are a few software products available to create WPS/PQR/WPQs and fewer still for managing welds and traceability. Due to the lack of extensibility of these products, they only offer limited help, especially for the large EPCs.

As the saying goes, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If some of the contractors have very good systems and others not so, the project could be facing risks associated with demonstrating compliance.

The system should be able to handle multiple teams across geographic locations and able to handle a vast amount of data in real time. And it should be easy to use and not be a burden or addition to what the teams do.

The risk of non-compliance to an established welding QA QC system and the eventual cost of repair and remediation is very real. Here's a link from the Australian Financial Review about the situation Chevron's $54 billion Gorgon LNG plant is in: https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/chevron-delays-gorgon-lng-restart-20200903-p55s4k. Cracks in welds are costing Chevron hundreds of millions of dollars every month.

So, how do you manage the risks from non-compliance to a welding quality system without micromanaging all the contractors and auditing them countless times? Don't worry. Your answer is WeldTrace.

Integrated system for welding

Transform from the traditional and old school way of managing welding projects to the modern and reliable way by leveraging technology. Technology everyone is willing to adopt and use on a daily basis, voluntarily that is. Don't everyone have a smartphone these days?

Imagine how much money and heartache it would save you if only you can get all the contractors use the same platform. A platform that would offer them flexibility to run their projects in the way they want to, yet you have the oversight and have access to data in real-time.

You can appreciate the benefits of an integrated system with everyone on the same page, a single source of truth and what it can do for customer confidence. A system that is extendable and capable of growing with you over time.

The more integrated the system is with the business processes, the benefits in increased productivity, confidence and competitive advantage that it would offer your company would be priceless.

Welcome to WeldTrace, the end-to-end welding management software.

WeldTrace is the end-to-end welding project management software for welding QA QC, quality assurance and compliance

Major features in WeldTrace

One platform for total project management

Cloud hosted in advanced servers with redundancy - 24x7 access from anywhere
Use with a browser or tablet or mobile phone - no extra cost for gadgets
You do not need to connect power sources to servers - WeldTrace is different
Collaborative, yet compartmentalised data - give access to your account to select few
Role based and hierarchical access to users - limit exposure to data and what they can do
Project access privileges are configurable for different roles
The ongoing cost is just 15 cents per weld (20 cents for the Plus plan)

Welding workflow management made easy

Built-in workflow for weld lifecycle
Role based access control
Plan, allocate, complete, test, inspect
Visual inspection by stage
NDE module to request, test, handle repairs, penalty, tracer, sampling
NDE settings for project and drawings
Work packs to group welds and plan
Traveler, control sheet, job card print options for hard copies to the shop
Instant messaging for communication between project team members
Welder who is not qualified or out of continuity prevented from being used
Welder continuity records updated automatically
Full traceability for each weld

Weld mapping and dimension mark-up interface

Weld numbers marked up in sequence automatically
Create welds automatically
Pick attributes of welds like size, joint or weld type
View weld map and navigate to weld
Produce high quality weld map prints
Edit and move weld map annotations
Transfer weld map annotations when drawings are revised

Repositories for project data

Tags to manage fabricated items with multiple drawings
Drawings with version control
Materials repository manage heat numbers, MTCs, inventory control
Filler metals area
Project documents with version control
Area to store all the test reports
Use welding procedures from the WPS module for all the projects
Welders are stored and managed in a central repository for all the projects

Manage the data with ease

Forms for editing one weld or other data at a time
Excel style interface to edit the weld log, hundreds of welds at a time
Wizards to import and export data

Data analysis

Project calendar and Gantt chart views
Progress bars
Instant messaging between users, notifications and alerts
Rich dashboard and data analysis tools

Final project documentation or turnover packs, easy!

Produce turnover packs in a few clicks
A single PDF file with all the selected documents
Data shown in tables with links to files
Table of contents and section separators
Headers and footers can be customized
Include only what you need to show

View Pricing

You may visit this site to learn about inspecting and testing welds and about weld defects: https://primeweld.com/blogs/news/weld-quality-testing-guide

What is weld mapping and why do you need to do it?

Wed, 23 Jun 2021 14:06:21 +1000

What is weld mapping?

Weld mapping is the process of assigning information to a weld joint for the purposes of production as well as traceability. Weld map should contain information such as its design (WPS), production (welders, their qualifications, date welded), quality (visual inspection, NDE), drawing and item number, and the information about the materials joined (heat numbers of materials & batch numbers of welding filler metals).

Weld mapping should also incorporate a pictorial identification to represent the weld number on the fabrication drawing. Weld mapping is also another term for weld tracking or welding traceability with the added function of an identification of the location of a weld in a drawing.

Why do I need to weld map?

You may be required to do weld mapping if the customer specification or code requirement or a company certification calls for your company to maintain full traceability records for all the welds that you produce.

You may want to do weld mapping even if it is not a mandatory requirement, as it makes business sense to maintain records just in case of an adversity. Read this article about the cracks found in the welds of Australia's largest project - Chevron's Gorgon LNG. You may have the people who manage welding leave the company or not be available or not remember who welded what and when all the time. With an increase in compliance requirements from clients, regulators and insurance companies, it is not a matter of 'if', but 'when' you need to setup a welding management quality system and start to do weld mapping.

That's a lot of paperwork...

If you are required to track the heat numbers of all the materials used, which welder welded which joint, the WPS used, when they were welded, who inspected the welds, NDE reports for each of them, it is a lot of work.

For small companies with one CWI or CWS it may be overwhelming to manage the volume of records. Bigger companies may have a team of people in the quality department to do this task, but managing tens of thousands of welds every year could still be overwhelming, without a proper system.

This will be a breeze only if you have very good system built around a purpose built software like WeldTrace.

WeldTrace can help!

WeldTrace has been designed to manage small to very large fabrication projects. WeldTrace can comfortably handle tens of thousands of records, all organized by line, equipment, system, tag or an area, throughout the project from planning to handover. Hundreds of users can access and add or edit data simultaneously based on their user privileges in a user friendly interface.

When your job is small and simple, you do not need the complexities of a large project and associated workflow. WeldTrace has many components that are optional and so you can quickly set up a new job and deploy welders.

WeldTrace is the total project management software for weld mapping and traceability

Major features in WeldTrace

Weld mapping and dimension mark-up interface

Weld numbers marked up in sequence automatically
Create welds automatically
Pick attributes of welds like size, joint or weld type
View weld map and navigate to weld
Produce high quality weld map prints
Edit and move weld map annotations
Transfer weld map annotations when drawings are revised

Repositories for project data

Tags to manage fabricated items with multiple drawings
Drawings with version control
Materials repository manage heat numbers, MTCs, inventory control
Filler metals area
Project documents with version control
Area to store all the test reports
Use welding procedures from the WPS module for all the projects
Welders are stored and managed in a central repository for all the projects

Manage the data with ease

Forms for editing one weld or other data at a time
Excel style interface to edit the weld log, hundreds of welds at a time
Wizards to import and export data

Welding workflow management made easy

Built-in workflow for weld lifecycle
Role based access control
Plan, allocate, complete, test, inspect
Visual inspection by stage
NDE module to request, test, handle repairs, penalty, tracer, sampling
NDE settings for project and drawings
Work packs to group welds and plan
Traveler, control sheet, job card print options for hard copies to the shop
Instant messaging for communication between project team members
Welder who is not qualified or out of continuity prevented from being used
Welder continuity records updated automatically
Full traceability for each weld

Data analysis

Project calendar and Gantt chart views
Progress bars
Instant messaging between users, notifications and alerts
Rich dashboard and data analysis tools

Final project documentation or turnover packs, easy!

Produce turnover packs in a few clicks
A single PDF file with all the selected documents
Data shown in tables with links to files
Table of contents and section separators
Headers and footers can be customized
Include only what you need to show

View Pricing

WeldTrace for Small & Medium Size Companies

Mon, 21 Jun 2021 15:21:46 +1000

Is the welding quality system dependent on you?

You may be a CWI or CWS. Perhaps even a CWE or the owner. The welding quality system in your fabrication operation is dependent on you. Your primary role is to manage the welders, welding documents, quality of the welded products, and could very well even manage aspects of production.

You will have to manage the WPSs, make sure that your welders are qualified, weld to qualified WPSs, their continuity is maintained, and the list goes on. You may even be worried about the production at all costs culture and the potential for product failures.

You may have been trying to get a functional quality system in place with the support of management, but don’t know where to start or how to do it.

If this is you, WeldTrace is here to help. You can build a welding quality management system around WeldTrace and even get your company certified to AISC, ASME or ISO 3834.

These features are available in most software

Writing code-compliant welding procedures;
Qualifying welders and generate code-compliant qualification records;
Welder continuity log

WeldTrace gives you these and far more

BYO documents

Automatic welder continuity

Extensive project module

Here's the list of features in WeldTrace

Here’s the list of some of the key features in WeldTrace that you would not have seen in other software:

Bring your own welding documents – WPSs, PQRs, WPQs/WQTRs – that are previously qualified;
Get welder continuity updated automatically;

Project module

Project management module for full traceability with these major features:

Weld mapping and dimension mark-up interface

Weld numbers marked up in sequence automatically
Create welds automatically
Pick attributes of welds like size, joint or weld type
View weld map and navigate to weld
Produce high quality weld map prints
Edit and move weld map annotations
Transfer weld map annotations when drawings are revised

Repositories for project data

Tags to manage fabricated items with multiple drawings
Drawings with version control
Materials repository manage heat numbers, MTCs, inventory control
Filler metals area
Project documents with version control
Area to store all the test reports
Use welding procedures from the WPS module for all the projects
Welders are stored and managed in a central repository for all the projects

Manage the data with ease

Forms for editing one weld or other data at a time
Excel style interface to edit the weld log, hundreds of welds at a time
Wizards to import and export data

Welding workflow management made easy

Built-in workflow for weld lifecycle
Role based access control
Plan, allocate, complete, test, inspect
Visual inspection by stage
NDE module to request, test, handle repairs, penalty, tracer, sampling
NDE settings for project and drawings
Work packs to group welds and plan
Traveler, control sheet, job card print options for hard copies to the shop
Instant messaging for communication between project team members
Welder who is not qualified or out of continuity prevented from being used
Welder continuity records updated automatically
Full traceability for each weld

Data analysis

Project calendar and Gantt chart views
Progress bars
Instant messaging between users, notifications and alerts
Rich dashboard and data analysis tools

Final project documentation or turnover packs, easy!

Produce turnover packs in a few clicks
A single PDF file with all the selected documents
Data shown in tables with links to files
Table of contents and section separators
Headers and footers can be customized
Include only what you need to show

Build your welding quality system with WeldTrace and get through audits confidently. Get the management and workers onboard and enjoy your job. Finally.

Experience the power and simplicity of WeldTrace - the end-to-end welding management software.

View Pricing

Smart Welding Manager takes a new avatar!

Wed, 02 Jun 2021 22:53:28 +1000

WeldTrace will replace Smart Welding Manager

We at SPMT have been working on a brand new welding management software that will replace Smart Welding Manager. WeldTrace will offer all the features in Smart Welding Manager and offer much more.
Many of the features have been made easier to use and intuitive to learn.
WeldTrace will be launched in August 2021. Should you be interested to learn more, please get in touch with us.

WeldTrace - Blog by K S Adityan

How to digitize your welding management workflow

Availability of Information

How easy is it to find data?

Information Exchange

Updating data is labor intensive

Analytics

Welding and NDT Reports for Saudi Aramco Contractors

Full Traceability

Track Welders

Reporting of Defects

Welder Performance Reports

Weld Status Reports

How to get certified to EN 1090 & ISO 3834?

Review of Requirements

Sub-contracting

Welding & Inspection Personnel

Equipment

Welding & Related Activities

Materials & Consumables

Post-weld Heat Treatment

Inspection & Testing

Non-conformances

Calibration

Traceability

Quality Records

Welding Quality and Compliance Management for Large EPC Projects

How do you manage contractors & their people?

How do you manage the welding records?

How do you demonstrate welding QA/QC compliance?

How do you manage the risk of non-compliance?

Integrated system for welding

WeldTrace is the end-to-end welding project management software for welding QA QC, quality assurance and compliance

Major features in WeldTrace

One platform for total project management

Welding workflow management made easy

Weld mapping and dimension mark-up interface

Repositories for project data

Manage the data with ease

Data analysis

Final project documentation or turnover packs, easy!

What is weld mapping and why do you need to do it?

What is weld mapping?

Why do I need to weld map?

That's a lot of paperwork...

WeldTrace can help!

WeldTrace is the total project management software for weld mapping and traceability

Major features in WeldTrace

Weld mapping and dimension mark-up interface

Repositories for project data

Manage the data with ease

Welding workflow management made easy

Data analysis

Final project documentation or turnover packs, easy!

WeldTrace for Small & Medium Size Companies

Is the welding quality system dependent on you?

These features are available in most software

WeldTrace gives you these and far more

BYO documents

Automatic welder continuity

Extensive project module

Here's the list of features in WeldTrace

Project module

Weld mapping and dimension mark-up interface

Repositories for project data

Manage the data with ease

Welding workflow management made easy

Data analysis

Final project documentation or turnover packs, easy!

Build your welding quality system with WeldTrace and get through audits confidently. Get the management and workers onboard and enjoy your job. Finally. ​Experience the power and simplicity of WeldTrace - the end-to-end welding management software.

Smart Welding Manager takes a new avatar!

WeldTrace will replace Smart Welding Manager

Build your welding quality system with WeldTrace and get through audits confidently. Get the management and workers onboard and enjoy your job. Finally.

Experience the power and simplicity of WeldTrace - the end-to-end welding management software.