In the steel structure industry, we have long faced a core challenge: the “welding” process, which is the lifeline of structural safety, heavily relies on skilled welders. However, the inherent characteristics of manual welding – long technical training cycles, harsh working conditions, and difficulties in controlling quality consistency – have become bottlenecks restricting the industry’s efforts to improve quality, reduce costs, and increase efficiency.
To break through this bottleneck, automation and intelligentization are the only way forward. This article delves into how welding robots bring transformative economic benefits and strategic value to steel structure manufacturing.
I. Industry Pain Points: The Limitations and Challenges of Manual Welding
Steel structure processing is characterized by non-standardization, multiple processes, and labor intensity. In the welding process, this manifests specifically as:
Difficulty in Ensuring Quality Stability: Variations in skill levels and working states among different welders lead to inconsistent weld quality, potentially compromising structural safety.
High Costs and Resource Scarcity: Training seasoned welders takes a long time, and labor costs continue to rise. Simultaneously, the challenging work environment exacerbates the problems of “difficulty in recruiting and retaining workers.”
Production Efficiency Bottlenecks: Manual welding is limited by physical endurance and working hours, resulting in low capacity flexibility and difficulty meeting large-scale, time-sensitive order demands.
From simple fillet welds to complex multi-layer multi-pass groove welds, and further to the highly demanding fully penetrated UT Class I welds and multi-position welding, the complexity of welding work and its reliance on “human” factors constitute major obstacles to industry development.
II. The Solution: Large-Scale Application of Welding Robots
We use a detailed internal calculation as an example to demonstrate the significant benefits brought by the large-scale replacement with welding robots.
(I) Cost Reduction Benefit: Significant Reduction of ¥88 per Ton in Steel Cost
Our calculation is based on the following prudent assumptions:
Replacement Scope: Assuming 80% of the workload of the company’s 8,000 welders (equivalent to 6,400 welders) can be performed by robots.
Equipment Investment: 6,000 welding robots can efficiently complete the aforementioned workload. The unit price per robot is ¥200,000, depreciated over 5 years with a 5% residual value.
Personnel Configuration: One operator can manage 3 robots, requiring a total of 2,000 operators (Welder monthly salary: ¥10,000; Operator monthly salary: ¥6,000).
Benefit Calculation:
Original Labor Cost: 6,400 welders × ¥10,000/month × 12 months = ¥768 million/year
New Costs:
Robot Annual Depreciation: (6,000 units × ¥200,000/unit × 95%) / 5 years = ¥228 million/year
Operator Cost: 2,000 persons × ¥6,000/month × 12 months = ¥144 million/year
Annual Cost Reduction Benefit: 768 – 228 – 144 = ¥400 million
Based on the company’s 2024 annual production volume of 4.51 million tons, this equates to a cost reduction of approximately ¥88 per ton of steel. This not only directly enhances product price competitiveness but also builds a solid cost moat.
(II) Production Increase Benefit: Breaking the Capacity Ceiling, Effectively “Rebuilding” a New Factory
The advantage of robots extends far beyond merely replacing labor; they can break through human physiological limits and achieve a leap in production capacity.
Capacity Release: Welding robots can easily implement “two-shift” or even 24/7 continuous production, increasing the overall capacity utilization rate to 180%. Based on this calculation, the company’s theoretical annual output could jump to nearly ten million tons, equivalent to rebuilding the existing production scale without constructing new workshops.
Profit Thickening: Expansion does not require additional building depreciation and land use right amortization (this cost was ¥63/ton in 2024). Therefore, the non-GAAP net profit per ton for the incremental output can increase by an additional ¥63 on top of the cost reduction of ¥88, reaching ¥151 per ton.
Incremental Profit: Calculations show that after increasing the capacity utilization rate to 180%, the resulting incremental output can contribute approximately ¥1.25 billion in non-GAAP net profit.
III. The Grand Vision: Value Reshaping Driven by Automation
Combining the “Cost Reduction Benefit” and the “Production Increase Benefit,” welding robot technology can create enormous added value exceeding ¥1.65 billion annually for the company. This means that, on the base of the 2024 non-GAAP net profit of ¥480 million, the company’s theoretical profit potential could rise to ¥2.13 billion, an increase of 343%.
This is more than just a cost reduction or production increase; it is a profound value reshaping. It signifies:
Controlled Quality: Consistent robot welding paths and parameters fundamentally ensure stable and reliable product quality.
Simplified Management: Standardized and automated production processes significantly reduce the complexity and uncertainty of production management.
Strategic Initiative: The company is no longer constrained by welder resource bottlenecks, enabling a more flexible and rapid response to market opportunities and the ability to seize high-end, large-scale projects.
Conclusion
Shifting from reliance on the “master craftsman’s” skill to dependence on the precision and efficiency of “robots” is an essential path for the steel structure manufacturing industry moving towards high-quality development. Our in-depth analysis of welding robot applications clearly outlines the tremendous economic value and development potential brought about by this transformation.
We are firmly committed to the forefront of intelligent transformation, dedicated to integrating advanced automation technology into every aspect of production, aiming to provide customers with higher quality, more efficient, and more cost-competitive steel structure products and solutions.
