Where will engineering construction

Where will engineering construction be in five years time? Productivity improvements can come from many different areas in the total fabrication process, e.g. general design, detailed design, contract drawings, CNC instructions, cutting and profiling, welding, inspection, finishing etc. It needs to be realised that optimising the welding process and procedure in isolation may have only a small effect on overall productivity. As an example, fabricators in the bridge and building sector continue to make big improvements in reducing the cost per tonne of steel fabricated by focussing on efficiency improvements in non-welding operations.These non-welding areas will continue to receive much attention in the next few years. For example, 3D solid modelling is expected to be at the heart of the improvement process enabling virtual assembly, direct instruction of cutting and welding machines, computer modelling of metal processing and welding operations and optimising of welding sequences. In addition automated inspection and data gathering will increase in usage to give more comprehensive Quality Assurance. Productivity improvements could also come from greater standardisation in steel specifications and in joint details and from modularisation of large structures to reduce the time spent on site fabrication and erection.Use of new welding processes and an increased use of automation and robots will take place slowly and gradually, only being justified where the introduction creates significant gains in productivity or cost reduction. As such, these changes can be expected particularly in situations where skilled labour is short, where welding cells can be kept fully occupied or where customised, made to order components are needed.