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Bill Herbert, owner of Quality Erectors, was working to grow his fabrication and erection company but was struggling to keep his labor force trained and his machines consistently running. QEC has a focus on bringing projects in on time and within budget. However, Bill was frequently sending machines out of state to be repaired, causing down time which was costly to his company. He was also experiencing poor service and support from his gas supplier and was wasting time reconciling invoices and overpaying for gas tanks. He was putting in the work but not getting the results he needed. Bill knew he had to improve efficiency, employee training and technology to improve the bottom line to his business.
Bill found Earlbeck Gases and wanted to do a Gas Application Audit. Through analyzing his gas usage with his previous supplier, we found that he was overpaying on his cylinder rental bill by having too many cylinders on site that were underutilized. We determined the appropriate number of cylinders QEC should have on hand to help control his costs and better manage his cylinder inventory.
Bill also wanted to increase his team’s productivity, so we did a Welding Application Analysis to identify if there were any improvements to be made in his team’s welding process. Through working with Earlbeck, here are some of the solutions Bill found:
- Rather than having to run dozens of feet of cable for quick jobs on railings and rooftops, his welding crew now uses the AccuPocket battery powered portable welders in battery mode. After trying one, he quickly made the investment to outfit all his trucks because they significantly reduced prep work with no sacrifice to welding power or quality of the arc.
- He also invested in a plasma cutter rather than using traditional oxyfuel cutting, which allowed his teams to get their jobs done much faster.
- The traditional gas driven welders had been giving his team issues, so he switched over to our Pioneer Pack, which features a Fronius AccuPocket, and a Honda driven generator. Now, two welders can operate without shore power which doubled his field output.
- Bill switched to gas shielded flux core wire rather than solid wire. This not only allows his team to weld faster with higher deposition rates, and better penetration but also allows him to use a pre-qualified D1.1 welding procedure, which saves thousands of dollars from having to have a custom procedure written.
- Aluminum jobs using spool guns were cumbersome and only could use #1 spools, which stopped the operator frequently to switch out wire. He switched to the TransSteel MIG machines which enables the operator to push .035 aluminum wire up to 15’ without a spool gun.
- We also now train and certify his welders to make sure they are job ready for any contract or project.
Bill implemented these solutions and transformed his business. His team is happier now that they have great training and the equipment, they need to do their jobs at a high level. His bottom line has improved, including reduced expenses on equipment repairs and gas supply. Bill now has a knowledgeable partner he can rely on to give him the right solutions for his business and help him solve his most difficult problems. Quality Erector’s partnership with Earlbeck has given Bill time back to focus on leading and growing his business.
