Variation in welding procedure specification approach and its effect on productivity

The research described was investigating the variation in Preliminary Welding Procedure Specifications (pWPSs) created at five weld shops. The purpose was to investigate the variation in chosen parameter values at each site as well as to identify any differences in weld result when welding according to the pWPSs. The study showed a vast variation between the sites, both in the chosen parameters and weld result. In order to use a Welding Procedure Specification (WPS) as a tool to facilitate standardization the variation in measurement systems, tolerance setting and starting points needs to be considered.