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Ground Zero in New York), Owen Steel
and its management team know that
they must constantly innovate. They
understand that in today’s fiercely
competitive environment the company
must continually focus on improving and
streamlining its business practices and
fabrication processes.
In 2006, the firm looked to its welding
operations for ways to save money and
increase production - and found the
answer in a material less than a quarter
inch in diameter.
Working with welding and gas distributor
Praxair and welding equipment and
consumables manufacturer Lincoln
Electric, Owen Steel conducted
extensive on-site tests and decided on
Lincoln’s UltraCore® 71C gas-shielded
flux-cored wire.
“Sometimes it’s the smallest item which
can make the biggest difference,” said
Isaac Murciano, Owen Steel chief
operating officer. “In a 12-month span,
we can use upwards of 300,000 pounds
of weld material. This is a substantial
investment, even for a firm our size. We
knew that if we could find a more
efficient wire, it had the potential to
make a considerable contribution to our
bottom line and give us a clear
competitive advantage.”
Owen Steel’s weld department consists
of 45 welders and can swell to 65 during
peak times. The firm was counting on its
new welding wire, along with recent
welding equipment purchases, to make
a substantial increase in productivity.
In initial testing, the UltraCore 71C wire
in 1/16” diameter provided a 30-percent
productivity increase. And with just half a
year in actual usage, Owen Steel has
already realized a 15-percent increase in
productivity with the new wire in the
two-and-a-half bays currently using it.
The company anticipates reaching the
30-percent level once all of its welders
are trained and the firm makes a
complete conversion to the new material
in all four bays.
Lincoln Electric and Praxair also help
with all of Owen Steel’s training. A
number of the firm’s team members
initially visited Lincoln’s Cleveland
headquarters for training on UltraCore
and the firm’s four new Lincoln Power
Wave® AC/DC 1000 inverter power
sources with Lincoln’s Waveform Control
Technology™. Additionally, the two
companies continue with on site training
for new and veteran employees.
Because every Owen Steel project is
built to custom specifications, there is
no “typical” project for the fabricator, so
the number of welding hours can vary
widely from project to project. A 10,000-
welding-hour job is not unheard of, but
with the Lincoln UltraCore wire, the
fabricator now has the potential to save
between 1,500 to 3,000 hours on just
one job.
This realization has positively impacted
Owen Steel’s bidding process. The
company, which estimates welding wire
at pounds used per hour, has been able
to realize cost savings and efficiency
gains.
“This is one operational change that has
made an immediate and demonstrable
contribution to our ability to compete in
today’s marketplace,” Murciano said
“The competition is fierce on every job,
and Lincoln’s UltraCore wire gives us a
competitive edge.”
The UltraCore wire has also saved the
company’s welders time through
drastically reducing the need for rework,
cleanup and gouging.
Owen Steel typically welds on a variety
of structural steel plates ranging from ½”
to 8” in thickness. The firm gets raw
material from U.S. and overseas
sources, depending on project
requirements. Finished product includes
Owen Steel Company, Columbia, SC
UltraCore
®
30% Increase in Productivity
W E L D I N G C O N S U M A B L E S
w w w . l i n c o l n e l e c t r i c . c o m
“UltraCore’s long stickout
procedures have allowed us to
maximize the deposition rate,
while giving our welders
better arc control.”