The utilization of robotic cells and arc welding are increasing rapidly across the U.S.  Incorporating a robot into your company can greatly reduce the number of employees needed to complete projects. 

• The number of robotic cells in U.S. industry has doubled since 1992, from 46,000 to 92,000. Between 15 and 17 percent of installed robots about 15,000 are used for arc welding.   
• The U.S. is second only to Japan (with about 460,000 robots in use) in worldwide robot usage. We can see from these numbers that there is enormous potential for growth in the number of robots used in the U.S.   
• A rule-of-thumb is that a welding robot can do the work of three or more manual welders.   
• The following are some common arc welding gun, torch, peripheral, and other considerations for robotic welding.   
• The parameters for robotic welding may be higher than for manual welding to accommodate a higher duty cycle and a possibly faster wire feeding.   
• Normally, the wire feeder for robotic welding is mounted on the robot arm, separate from the power supply.   
• For robotic welding, a control interface between the robot controller and the power supply and wire feeder is needed.   
• While some might think that a robotic GMAW torch is nothing more than a manual gun attached to a robot arm, there are significant differences.   
• Generally, the price of the welding torch is a relatively small part of the cost of a robotic workcell. A robotic torch should be chosen with the emphasis on the capabilities needed for a fabricator's particular applications rather than cost considerations.   
• The welding torch should not be attached directly to the robot. Rather, it should be attached to a safety torch mount equipped with a cutoff switch that will stop the robot in the event of a collision, preventing damage to the robot arm or welding torch.   
• One starting point for positioning the workpiece for robotic welding may be the fixtures already used for manual welding. However, loading and unloading stationary jigs in the robot cell can be time-consuming and impractical.   
• One benefit of robotic welding is that an operator's exposure to dangerous fumes generated at the arc is eliminated. Some enclosures have switches that cut off power to the robot when the doors are opened so that an operator cannot enter when the robot is moving or welding.