Get to know the Welders team at Rotarex

What is a welder’s job within the Rotarex Group ?

The job of welder at Rotarex is a very specific job because we are talking about orbital welding activities. This is a fully automated TIG (Tungsten, Inert Gas, Gas) welding technique, which means that it is carried out by a machine. In fact, the tungsten is mobile and the part is fixed; this process is particularly well suited to the welding of tubes and without manual intervention. We weld pieces end to end without adding material, we fuse them. We only work on the ‘Ultra High Purity’ range for semiconductor manufacturers.

What is the «typical profile» of a welder ?

There is no academic training for orbital welding. All Rotarex welders are trained on the job, and then pass official qualifications, validated by a specialized external organization (IS de Yutz, France), as required by certain American and European standards. They all have a good general knowledge, or even expertise in TIG welding (traditional welding process). This experience and high level of knowledge is essential in order to be trained in the specificity of orbital welding at Rotarex, and thus to intervene easily in a role more oriented towards visual control of the welds (on the outside of a valve) and endoscopic control of the penetration of the molten bath (inside the product) and their possible defects (such as cracks, rocking, pitting, impurities etc.. ), identified on the basis of an in-house defect catalog.

How does the field training of a welder joining Rotarex take place ?

According to an internally established nomenclature, Level 4 welders (experienced profiles who have followed and validated an official qualification) act as trainers for new talents joining the team. A minimum of 6 to 12 months «field» training is necessary to be operational and autonomous in the orbital welding of «simple» parts.

Composition and organization of the welding team :

The current welding team is mixed and was created in 1997 by Tony Perruzza, our Orbital Welding Supervisor. The team consists of 9 people, 7 welding employees and 2 cleaning employees. We also have 2 open positions! The current 5 workstations, located in a clean UHP environment, produce an average of 150-250 parts/shift per day. Our welders work morning and afternoon shifts (2X8) for the moment. Seniority in the team is diverse, ranging from a few months to over 20 years for Tony!

Human skills essential for any good welder :

Rigor, precision, concentration, stress management, selfcontrol, team spirit, autonomy! Each welder is fully responsible for his orders, from the reception of the parts to the transfer to the UHP cleaning teams. You must also be able to handle the «confined» work and the often repetitive aspect of the job!

Rotarex welders’ presence and daily interactions :

All Rotarex Group orbital welding activities are currently performed in Lintgen and Genlis (SMT); the future plant in Korea will also host welders, who will be trained directly at the Lintgen site! The welding team is in permanent daily contact with other functions, notably the Planners (PPS), to establish priorities for the planning of customer orders, the R&D department for the development of new Rotarex products, as well as the Quality and Warehouse departments.

If you want to be part of the welders team, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us : jobs@rotarex.com !