What are TWI's training, examination and fabrication services?
TWI Bulletin, January/February 1997
Dave McKeownDave McKeown has been Head of TWI's Training, Examination and Fabrication Services since 1995. He started his career at Abington Hall in 1965, but has since worked for Henry Wiggin, BOC and ESAB, in marketing and R&D roles.
TWI's training and certification portfolio is continually evolving to meet industry's changing needs. Bulletin interviews Training Manager, Dave McKeown for an update on the current range of courses and schemes available.
How does training fit into TWI's range of services? A key role of TWI is to impart knowledge to its Industrial Membership. Much of this is achieved by direct contact between specific personnel in the member organisation and one of TWI's noted research and technology specialists. Backing this individual activity is the broad range of services available from our Training, Examination and Fabrication Services Department (TEF).
TWI has been offering training for years, so what's different now?
TWI identified the need to separate its certification business from the day-to-day delivery of courses and examinations. The Training and Examination Department was set up, and in January 1996 it incorporated the activities of TWI welding engineers to make a single group providing training, examinations and fabrication advice.
How does this help industry?
Now an Industrial Member can request a wide ranging assessment of its fabrication methods and joining techniques from one of eight welding engineers, who together have around 200 years of industrial experience!
This can be followed if required by training in practical welding and brazing, joining technology and NDT at any level from an initial appreciation through to the most advanced levels. Many result in internationally recognised personal qualifications, such as CSWIP Underwater Inspector, PCN NDT Operator, EWF European Welding Engineer, and ASME IX coded welder.
If the member qualifies under the DTI Joining Forces scheme as a small to medium enterprise (SME), government assisted Product and Process Reviews and follow up Feasibility Studies can be carried out by TWI experts at subsidised rates.
Product and process review
Bob Spiller, one of TWI's welding engineers, recently visited a metal box manufacturer to assess any potential production problems. His objective was to review the company's fabrication and welding operations used in producing thin gauge stainless steel and aluminium container boxes,
Fig.l. Bob found a neat and well laid out production unit, with well thought through processes.
Fig.1. Bob Spiller reviews a production process with Cambridge Rapid Components, Saffron Walden
He did find a problem in production though - the presence of gaps in fit-up of the box corners. Although these gaps could easily be bridged, the client's requirements for negative penetration on the inside of each corner joint made the welding operation extremely difficult, especially on the inside of the internally anodised aluminium boxes.
Recommendations made included using coated angled back-up supports for the corner joints, and/or one-sided welding using a shaped copper back-up bar for welding the outside of the corners. These suggestions have been gratefully received and should soon be implemented.
We have much to interest our larger members, especially those wishing to catch up on world leading techniques and methods. Increasingly, members request an extended visit from a TEF welding engineer to give their fabrication and production operations a thorough 'health check'. Many are looking for ways to improve cost efficiency of production. This often includes meeting international or client specifications relating to greater attention to the quality of joining within the fabrication.
What kind of international specifications?
The Euronorm Standard EN 729/ISO 3834 Quality requirements for welding is growing in significance as it clearly highlights welding as a special process requiring attention beyond the scope of 'paper' quality systems like ISO 9000.
ISO 3834 also calls up EN 719, Welding co-ordination and it is from this that many members are realising the economic sense and necessity of having personnel appropriately qualified for the role they play in the organisation. This is where TWI's 25 plus years of experience in training and examining operators, welders, technologists and post graduates comes into play.
By offering internationally recognised training and qualifications, TWI can satisfy any requirement from its members for the development of high quality staff in the field of joining.
You mentioned adhesives, so it's not just for welding steel that you offer training and qualifications in?
No, interestingly, although such training and qualification began with and is well established in the field of arc welding metals, influential groups are seeking extension of the schemes to a much wider range of joining and NDT techniques.
Recently TWI has been working on schemes for qualification of personnel in brazing, GRP bonding, hot gas plastic welding ( Fig.2), laser processing of materials, tank assessment and chemical plant maintenance.
Fig.2. Hot gas welder training course in progress at the Plastics Welder Training Centre, TWI North
We run an extensive series of microelectronics courses for instance, (this area of technology is growing fast in UK industry). These courses, like many now run in the newer technologies, are staffed by experts from our research and technology departments, so the latest developments are sure to be covered.
Several organisations have approached us to ask how they may set up equivalent schemes, or operate our schemes in their own countries.
So you also provide specific industry sector and company tailored training?
Member companies can enrol staff on standard courses, but often they ask for tailored courses covering aspects of specific interest to their own business. TWI Connect journal has carried several reports of such activities.
For example, Lloyd's Register of Shipping regularly send groups of their new intake surveyors to Abington for welding technology training. By working together as a partnership we ensure that the new surveyors understand the Lloyd's approach. They use their own lecturers for part of the training and TWI adds both theoretical and practical training in joining, inspection and testing of materials.
Abington isn't your only training and certification base is it?
Abington is our headquarters, and we have also established TWI North in Middlesbrough UK, specifically geared to local industry. It is a major training base. Courses it specialises in include electromagnetic methods of NDT such as ACFM and Lizard (tradename from Millstrong Ltd), and practical tuition in hot gas welding of thermoplastics. In Spring 1997 the TWI/ Joining Forces plastics demonstrator will open at TWI North - showing visiting companies the range of equipment commercially available in the UK for joining plastics. In addition it houses Europe's largest indoor deepwater diving tank, complete with a controllable atmosphere, Fig.3.
Fig.3. Underwater technology and training in Europe's most advanced underwater technology centre
In 1995, after many years of activity in Singapore and Malaysia, TWI Training and Certification Services S E Asia was set up in Selangor - an industrial area near Kuala Lumpur, Fig.4. All of TWI's services are supplied from there, including the complete range of training and certification schemes. We use both local and UK staff to give our customers the right industry balance.
Fig.4. This base in Malaysia trains clients from many parts of S E Asia
We also, of course, visit company premises to train on-site using their equipment and set-up. We can devise and provide company in-house certification schemes for their employees, Fig.5. Like all our other services, this too is available worldwide.
Fig.5. Part of TWI's global programme - a welding inspector's course for engineers held in Bombay recently
And you adapt your schemes to suit current trends?
Our training schemes are continually developing. Courses leading to EWF qualifications of European Welding Specialist, Technologist and Engineer are now in modular form. Hardpressed companies that find it difficult to arrange for release of key staff in large blocks of time, can now elect to spread the training time over various one week sessions, thereby minimising disruption to the business. This approach has proven to be very popular, giving us an increase in company enquiries. An alternative is to offer distance learning, which we are working on.
In-line with many vocational qualifications we are looking at links with further education, offering 'top-ups' to certain national qualifications.
What plans do you have for this year?
Two developments for 1997 are the introduction of Certified Quality Welders and Certified Brazing Operators. It is now recognised in many parts of the industry that to have a welder responsible only for following instructions which require his work to be independently checked at every stage is not very cost effective. If the welder can be properly trained and qualified so that he can competently assess the quality of his own work, and can accept the responsibility that that entails, a considerable amount of inspection and thereby cost, would be eliminated.
This requires a uniform scheme under which the skill and competence of the 'quality welder' can be assessed. TWI is reacting to this need by developing the 'Certified Quality Welder' with help from its members.
The brazing industry has also for some time been looking at the qualification of welders and recognised a similar need for its operatives. Once again TWI is introducing, with user assistance, a CSWIP scheme to cover brazing.
That seems like a lot of industry interaction!
TWI's policy is to anticipate needs and react swiftly to industry requirements. The personnel certification of NDT operators is a good example. In the UK attempts were made to unify qualification under PCN but this developed a reputation for being over-complex. Although TWI were pioneers in taking PCN examinations around the world there was customer demand to continue offering CSWIP NDT qualifications. TWI now offers both qualifications.
What about in the States?
In the USA personal qualification has been slow to take off. The American Society for NDT (ASNT) has realised the need and spent considerable time talking to TWI about how to set up such a scheme. The American Welding Society (AWS) actually took up the CSWIP model, and the first courses for AWS NDT qualification have taken place with TWI involvement. It is possible that these US schemes will be offered worldwide.
Whilst customer choice may be desirable, and TWI will offer whatever is required, it must remain a long term aim to achieve a unified worldwide qualification for NDT.
By contrast the EWF scheme for welding technologists is being adopted by IIW and is almost certain to become the first worldwide qualification in any field of engineering. TWI is not only a founder member and strong supporter of EWF but has in Tim Jessop (Associate Director, TWI) the current EWF Lead Assessor who validates the scheme on a worldwide basis.
Training software
With the advent of affordable user friendly computers and software, TWI is developing a selection of basic and multimedia software packages for employees to follow in their workplace. They cover many of the joining technologies with which TWI works.
There are five adhesive programs available to help member companies understand adhesives and use them to their full advantage. A training package is one part. Designed to teach the newcomer all about adhesive systems, starting with an introduction and awareness module, through to surface preparation and product handling, it also includes aspects of health and safety in the workplace.
A multimedia health and safety package on the hazards of fumes on the shopfloor is currently being developed following UK HSE guidelines. The tutorial takes the user through each risk associated with fumes generated during arc welding and how to deal with them safely, ( Fig.6).
A telephone helpline is available for any users of these teaching aids.
Fig.6. Training software is being developed to help operators cope with hazardous fumes emitted during welding processes
