SCHWEISSEN & SCHNEIDEN 2023 – What an experience!

The latest trends, innovative technologies and great enthusiasm for welding technology – I experienced all of that at this year's SCHWEISSEN & SCHNEIDEN! It is the world's largest trade fair for joining, cutting and coating technology. After a six-year break, it returned to its former location in Essen and was one of the year's highlights for the welding industry. Of course, it was also a very special time for me, with many interesting discussions, because even the WELDPROF^® never stops learning.

What I noticed immediately was the unique atmosphere this year. There was great enthusiasm at seeing each other in person, looking at the products live and talking to the product experts. The direct interaction created a completely different dynamic, especially compared to the digital events that have become more common in past years.

Innovative new developments

ABICOR BINZEL's motto this year was "People | Planet | Progress". I think that these three terms summarise quite well the demands on existing products and new developments in welding technology. In fact, to make people's lives a little better, because welding technology is all around us and makes many things possible that we take for granted. But above all, to make welding itself easier and safer. At the same time, it is important to protect the environment and establish specific measures that will ensure a future worth living for coming generations. Both can only be achieved through constant progress and new, innovative ideas. This commitment to people, planet and progress is reflected in new products.

With a shortage of skilled welders, cobots are a huge opportunity – especially for small and medium-sized companies. The iBOTone^® in particular is very easy to program, so welders can start working with it after a short training period. Its use reduces the welder's workload while increasing productivity. While manual welding only allows about 20 percent of actual welding time, the cobot can increase this to up to 70 percent. In addition, the quality of a cobot's welds remains constant even after many hours of work.

But large companies also benefit from cobots, especially when it comes to producing small quantities or doing rework that is still done manually today. It was clear that the cobots had struck the right chord: the interest in this technology was really high.

Measuring the CO₂ footprint live

One of the most exciting things I saw at the fair was the automated production line. It demonstrated cutting, welding, fume extraction and final inspection of a workpiece. What made it special was not only the digital recording of power, wire and shielding gas consumption to provide productivity data, but also the live measurement of the CO₂ footprint. In order to supply data to their customers, many manufacturers currently estimate their CO₂ consumption, often overestimating rather than underestimating. Here it was demonstrated that the data collected can show exactly how the CO₂ equivalent is made up – both in the sub-processes and in the overall process. This not only allows you to provide your customers with accurate measurement data, but also to identify where you can minimise your own carbon footprint.

Trend topic: welding fume extraction

The topic of welding fume extraction is more relevant than ever. I noticed at the fair that health and risk awareness have increased significantly. Both are now an integral part of the decision-making process, and I am convinced that the topic will become even more important in the future. Welding fume extraction was also one of the top subjects for visitors and was received with great interest.

The main concerns about fume extraction – weight and size, restricted visibility during welding and porosity due to accidental extraction of shielding gas – have been largely overcome by product innovations. The torches are not as large and heavy as one might remember. They provide an optimal view of the process during welding, and there is no longer any over-extraction of shielding gas.

Personally, I think it's very good and important that developments in the industry are giving priority to protecting the health of employees and raising awareness. Fortunately, health, environment and sustainability have become an industry trend that more and more companies are following.

Many exciting conversations

I enjoyed not only the products and innovations, but also the personal conversations. Whether with customers, distributors or co-exhibitors, the enthusiasm was extraordinary.

I was also really happy when I was asked about my WELDPROF^® channel. They like the fact that the videos are very product-neutral and present technical content in an understandable way. These are also the aspects that are important to me personally. After all, each viewer has a different focus and level of knowledge and therefore approaches my videos differently. In general, I have received very positive feedback about my WELDPROF^® videos and it has been a great pleasure to talk to excited viewer or simply take a picture with them.

I also really enjoyed working with our influencers and cooperation partners again. Personal highlights for me were the stage talk with Igor Welder and the joint presentation with our cooperation partner Inrotech on the topic of "New welding technologies for regenerative energy production".

A great success

The fair was a good experience for all of us, and it was great to meet each other in person again. Of course, customers, partners and sister companies also felt this unique team spitit.

Although the focus was on ABICOR BINZEL and our sister companies, I can also say that the fair was a success for me personally. Because I see many current topics – especially in the area of sustainability and technical progress – closely related to the WELDPROF^®.

For the next SCHWEISSEN & SCHNEIDEN in two years, I would like to have a little more time to walk over the trade fair myself and visit other exhibitors. Of course, I hope that we will have a similar number of visitors and I am curious to see how the current trends will have developed by then.

Are you interested in other topics?

In general, every visitor to the WELDPROF^® website can ask me specific questions via »Ask the WELDPROF^®«. I am happy to answer them by e-mail or in one of my video formats. Interaction with interested parties from the world of welding and joining technology is expressly desired!