ESL Acquires Our First State-of-the-Art Robotic Welder

ESL embraces a life-long goal of investing in our customers, employees and the growth of our organization. As a newly held 100% employee owned company, ESL’s most recent investment has been the purchase of a brand-new state-of-the-art robotic welder.

With a commitment to continuous improvement, ESL is dedicated to increasing value to our customers. As projects and work demands increase, capacity becomes an issue. Because of this, ESL decided to investigate the benefits of welding automation. When it comes to welding there are many variables to consider such as amperage settings, filler metal, shielding gas, heat application, and training. The goal of our preliminary research was to determine if robotic welding could increase capacity, cycle time, and quality.

Initial exploration indicated a robotic welder is consistent, wouldn’t take days off (no calling in sick or taking vacations) and would work diligently even at the busiest of times. It could weld twenty four seven, three sixty five!

After pulling 3 years of data on ESL fabricated enclosures and comparing the information to welding automation, it became apparent that the return on investment for a robotic welder would be a clear winner. ESL determined the investment would be cost effective, improve customer relationships, reduce risks and improve on-time delivery. The conclusion; bringing in ESL’s first robot would be monumental for the growth of our organization.

For projects that don’t fit the robotic welder criteria, ESL is still committed to manual welding quality. ESL’s valued manual welders work side by side with the new robotic champion to come up with better ideas when tacking and prepping parts for the robot. Recognizing that certain products could be redesigned for the robot to weld, ESL’s fabrication shop and engineering team are now brainstorming and redesigning key items so that robotic welding is achievable with even more enclosures.

Learn more about our fabrication shop capabilities and take a virtual tour of our company.