Automated cutting system helps pressure vessel manufacturer work around skilled-worker shortage

摘要

Energy Weldfab occupies a 30-acre compound and a nearly 130,000-sq.-ft. facility in White Oak, Texas, where 200 people work two shifts a day to fabricate enormous pressure vessels for the oil and gas industry. Workers bend and weld metal, cut holes and edges, fit pipes together, and finish and paint vessels for customers all over the world. For nearly a quarter-century this family-run company has supplied the oil and gas industry with processing equipment. The metal can vary in thickness from less than 0.25 to 8 in. The products usually have numerous connection points, requiring a lot of cutting and welding. Until recently the company did all of the cutting by hand using an oxyfuel torch.