Manufacturer G&W Products has found itself well positioned to weather the current economic storm, thanks to recent expansions in technology that increased capabilities while maximizing productivity. For the last five years, Lincoln Electric Automation has been a key partner in contributing to this effort.

Despite the worldwide slowdown in manufacturing activity, the Fairfield, Ohio-based company is on track to achieve year-over-year growth between 2008 and 2009. Automated welding plays a big role in the company’s growth plan, says CEO Gary Johns.

"There is no question robotic integration has allowed G&W to be more competitive in the marketplace," Johns notes. "It has allowed us to swiftly complete medium-to-large-volume welding work. It also has allowed us to realize significant gains in the consistency and quality of overall productivity. Automation and other initiatives have allowed G&W’s business to grow approximately 35 percent over the last three years while maintaining nearly the same number of employees."

G&W, which employs 120 workers on three shifts, offers a full range of fabrication services for such industries as material handling, military hardware, retail displays, power distribution and construction equipment.

The company produces metal stampings and fabricated metal parts to customer prints and specifications. Its engineering department also works closely with customers to turn concepts into manufactured parts, and assemblies.

In addition to MIG, TIG and spot welding, G&W provides a full range of manufacturing capabilities, including laser cutting, stamping, metal forming, tool and die manufacturing, and even powder coating. This gives customers a total solution of value-added production options in a competitive marketplace. These services take the concept of traditional job shop operations to a higher level.

In the past four years, the use of robotic welding systems has become firmly integrated into the company’s list of well-established capabilities. At G&W Products, automation is not just a passing fancy; it’s now an important part of the company’s production process and a strong contributor to its competitive bottom line.

"There are many jobs we have quoted that are ideally suited for robotic welding and often it is an advantage when we are competing with companies without this capability," explains the company’s vice president of sales, Randy Sagraves. "More importantly, this technology has fit in well with our value-added operations. As customers come to us for welding requirements, they are introduced to many other areas that can add value to their purchase. Evidence to our success with robotic welding is introduction of four additional Lincoln systems in the past two years."