By: Noelle Stapinsky
Published by Shop Metalworking Technology, Feb 2022
Red Deer, Alta-based RoboFab, an automated manufacturing division of ONSITE3D, specializes in technology services for the oil and gas industry and pharmaceutical and industrial plant applications where process piping is required. Over the years, the company has invested heavily in its manufacturing process and downstream services. But when Wade Eno, CEO of RoboFab, started looking into how the company could improve quality control with welding consistency and provide the most transparent value to clients – two very critical aspects when fabricating high-pressure process piping – he began researching welding automation technologies for pipe spooling welding operations.
He was searching for a technology that would align with the workflow his company has developed in the engineering, procurement and construction industry. “If I hire 10 welders, I’ll get 10 different welds different levels of quality,” says Eno. “It’s more about the consistency of the welds that I’m interested in. I’ve been studying robotics for quite a while and when I was looking for ways to streamline our pipe spool fabrication, that’s when I found Novarc Technologies.”
Novarc checked all of the boxes and it is a Canadian company, which meant that support would be readily available, an aspect that Eno finds to be critical when adopting and implementing new technology.
“We now have two Novarc Spool Welding Robot (SWR) machines. They offer a controlled environment with an automated process, consistency, efficiency, and ultimately lower costs once the machines are paid off,” says Eno. Read more…