Global challenges in the welding industry are driving new industrial alliances in the face of universal labour shortages and evolving technology.
Weld Australia has just signed two new deals with the American Welding Society (AWS) to develop its domestic ability to meet Australia’s future industrial welding, fabrication and advanced manufacturing needs.
Weld Australia’s CEO Geoff Crittenden says the deals reflect the capability problems facing his industry especially with Australia slowly gearing up to build its own AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines (among many industrial projects).
“AUKUS is often described as a submarine program but for Australian industry it is much bigger than that,” he says.
“It is a whole-of-nation capability uplift across welding, engineering, inspection, training, certification, advanced manufacturing and supply chain resilience,” Crittenden said.
“Australia cannot build this capability in isolation. We need trusted international partners who bring technical depth, established systems and global experience.”
Last year, Weld Australia warned that a shortage of welders could threaten the AUKUS project: click here to read that story.
He says the AWS deals are about ensuring they can access world-class welding expertise while focusing on local development.
“This is about bringing global knowledge into Australia in a way that benefits Australian companies, Australian workers and Australian capability,” he says.
“The objective is not to import a solution. The objective is to work with AWS to strengthen our industrial base, build a local workforce, and support the local companies that will deliver Australia’s defence and manufacturing future.”
(Weld Australia is also forming global alliances in other countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy in areas like certification, training, research and technology.)
Crittenden says new deals are needed if this country is to provide domestic defence manufacturing and industry capabilities.
Weld Australia is to become the preferred Australian partner for AWS for work on AUKUS, defence and shipbuilding projects.
It will pave the way for the organisations to work together in areas like workforce development, training, certification, engineering support, technical standards, qualification alignment and industry engagement.
ABOUT AMERICAN WELDING SOCIETY: Founded in 1919, the AWS is a non-profit organisation that provides standards, certification, education, training and technical resources for the global welding community. It is based in Miami, Florida. For details, visit https://www.aws.org
GLOBAL CHALLENGES FOR WELDING INDUSTRY
Ben Mitchell, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Weld Australia, and Richard Arn, the Vice-President of Welding and Technology at AWS, both agree that the new deals can align capability development across the AUKUS nations: Australia, US and the UK.
“Australia, the US and UK are facing remarkably similar industrial challenges: workforce shortages, ageing trades, defence manufacturing growth, technology adoption, supply chain resilience and skills modernisation,” Mitchell says.
“Sovereign capability does not mean working alone; it means building trusted capability with trusted partners.”
“AWS brings deep expertise in certification, education, standards and professional development; Weld Australia brings national industry knowledge, local relationships, engineering capability, training delivery and direct engagement with Australian defence and manufacturing supply chains.”
Carey Chen, Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer of AWS, says their new deals reflect the importance of global co-operation in building welding capability across allied industrial supply chains.
“The challenges facing advanced manufacturing and defence supply chains are shared across nations,” he says.
“By working together, AWS and Weld Australia can help strengthen the skilled workforce, technical systems and industry capability needed to support these critical programs.”
Crittenden said the deals are part of bigger plans to ensure that Australia can meet the industrial demands of the next decade.
“The greatest competitive advantage of the future will not be the technology we possess but the capability we develop together,” Crittenden said.
“This partnership with AWS is a practical step towards that future.
“It gives Australian industry stronger access to (global) expertise while reinforcing Weld Australia’s role as the national welding authority supporting defence, shipbuilding, advanced manufacturing and sovereign capability.”
ABOUT WELD AUSTRALIA: It represents the welding profession in Australia. Its members are made up of individual professionals and companies. Weld Australia are the Australian representatives of the International Institute of Welding (IIW). For more details, visit https://weldaustralia.com.au/
