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SCHWEISSEN & SCHNEIDEN



“Can welding also be sustainable?” Harald Scherleitner joins us for a chat

Harald Scherleitner can look back on nearly 30 years with Fronius and knows the Business Unit Perfect Welding better than almost anyone else. While requirements and conditions have changed repeatedly in this dynamic competitive environment, his passion and enthusiasm for the perfect arc has remained unchanged. One of his core tasks is to “continually destabilize,” i.e., to scrutinize processes and identify potential for improvement. Harald focuses particularly on the topic of sustainability in his work.


His Fronius career began in 1994 when he started his apprenticeship as an electromechanical engineer. In the years that followed, he moved within the company from Development to Technical Support and then to Sales. After a stint lasting several years in the Business Unit Perfect Charging, since 2016 Harald has once again been able to focus on what he would say is his original passion of welding technology in his role as Business Unit Head and Global Director Sales & Marketing of Fronius Perfect Welding. In this interview, he talks about the complex relationship between welding and sustainability, the efforts that Fronius Perfect Welding is making in this area and the connection between sustainability and the protection of the health of all welding professionals. 
Harald Scherleitner

The Business Unit Perfect Welding is committed to the perfect weld and wants to give its customers the best possible support to enable them to achieve their full potential. However, welding is a very resource-intensive and, above all, energy-intensive joining process. Some would even claim that welding can never be sustainable. Is that true?

First of all, I don't quite see it that way. But I would like to start a little further back. At Fronius, we have been following sustainable principles since the very beginning of the company's history. As early as 1945, when Günter Fronius founded the company, sustainability could be said to be the motivation for this. Günter simply did not want to accept that car batteries were simply disposed of after a single use, as was customary at the time. Instead, he developed a procedure to recharge them. 

Another anecdote I can remember from my career is that later on, in the 1980s, Klaus Fronius discovered the first transistor-controlled radio on a trip to Japan. He immediately bought one and brought the device back to Austria with him. His idea was that it must also be possible for this innovative technology to be incorporated into a welding system. So the development department were then set the considerable challenge of working out if this could also be used in welding technology. And we succeeded. It was in precisely this spirit that Fronius became the first company in the world to integrate transistor-based inverter technology into its welding systems and has been continuously developing it ever since. What made this so revolutionary was the fact that joining required up to one-third less power and around 80% less materials, since these devices are more compact and lighter. They are also more mobile, which makes it much more convenient to change where you are using them. This basic idea can still be seen and felt today in all our products and, of course, in our welding systems. So yes, welding can also be sustainable.

Are there any examples of where the basic idea you mentioned is still reflected today?

Today, as they did then, our welding systems still impress with their very high level of quality and their long service life. We design our products to last for more than 20 years. Whether you are manufacturing cars, cellphones, or welding systems, this uses resources, including raw materials such as steel, petroleum products, plastics, and energy. Therefore, the following applies: The longer the service life, the less often a device has to be replaced, and the more sustainable it is. In order to test the reliability and robustness of our welding systems, including under harsh conditions, we carry out comprehensive hardness tests, especially for new developments. The internal standards that we set ourselves are significantly higher than the legally required limit values. Active cooling technology also makes a significant difference to the service life of the power electronics in Fronius devices: Actively cooled welding systems have considerably longer service lives than passively cooled equivalent systems.  

Despite all the efforts made in terms of quality and durability, it is of course also possible that Fronius welding systems can develop defects. What happens then?

For us, repairability is closely linked to the topic of longevity. Our devices can all be opened and repaired using commercially available tools. In addition, we have a service concept which means individual components can be replaced easily and in a straightforward way. Around the world, 37 subsidiaries, multiple repair centers, and certified Fronius Service Partners and representatives in more than 60 countries guarantee rapid repairs, professional system maintenance, and correct calibration. Of course, we should also mention our Repair Center in Steinhaus, Upper Austria. In this 4,000 m2 facility, employees spend every day troubleshooting. To date, the oldest welding system that we have managed to completely restore there was 42 years old. It was a Fronius Primus 200 from 1978. Repairs are only carried out there using original spare parts. And if it should happen that a Fronius product can really no longer be repaired, then we have also given thought to its recycling. Recycling comes into it as early as during welding system development, which is why we are always thinking about how they will be disposed of when choosing materials. Recycled materials are used in production whenever quality allows. But in general, the following principle applies: Repair takes precedence over recycling. In a nutshell, we want all of our products and services to help our customers optimize their processes as much as possible. This allows them to save energy, material, and time.

Energy, material, and time are primarily economic factors. What about the ecological factor, people and the environment?

Of course, we always keep this in mind in all our considerations. We do not use any fossil fuels at any of our Austrian sites and are switching to renewable energy sources in the interests of decarbonization. In Austria, we have now succeeded in completely phasing out the use of gas. In addition, we rely on innovative energy concepts such as the huge ice storage facility at the Sattledt manufacturing site and the constant expansion of the PV systems. I would like to underline that when it comes to sustainability, we pay attention not only to the financial benefits, but also to the benefits for people and the environment. I would like to illustrate this using the example of our new WeldCube Navigator tool.

We use weld sequencing to ensure high-quality seams. This means that there are no incorrect welding parameters, no incorrect welding sequences, and therefore no distortion. We believe that this will also reduce the pressure on less experienced welders and make their work much easier. So this represents a benefit for the user and a way in which we are supporting people. Missing or incorrectly welded joints are detected early. In this way, we avoid rejects before they even occur. With WeldCube Navigator, large-scale, hard-copy printed welding sequences are also a thing of the past. And these are all obvious advantages for the environment. Last but not least, there is the cost factor: WeldCube Navigator’s guidance and job preset function helps to significantly reduce the training and induction time for new welding specialists. This saves money and ensures more effective manufacturing. There are countless other similar examples, such as the gas pressure sensor, the reduction of welding spatter, and welding process optimization. I don't want to deny that welding is a very resource-intensive process, but we are doing all we can to make it as sustainable as possible.

What is the general mood in the industry? Have people recognized the signs of the time and has sustainability now become an important topic in all quarters?

In my view, this has already changed massively in recent years. Five or six years ago, you could perhaps refer to sustainability as necessary padding, because empty phrases on the subject were included in tenders at that time. But if I look now, in 2023, at what the automotive and supplier industries and also other segments are doing, then I can see that this topic has really moved into the mainstream. Numerous certifications are now being issued and, as suppliers, companies such as Fronius also have to be audited.

A lot is already happening behind the scenes to be able to present the topic of sustainability effectively. I am all the more proud that we at Fronius have been taking this issue seriously since the very beginning. Of course, economic perspectives focusing on saving money have always been an important factor, but now we are also moving in an ecological direction by focusing on the human factor. So in my view, it is becoming increasingly important in our customer worlds too. This is partly why the topic of sustainability is also one of our focal points at the upcoming SCHWEISSEN & SCHNEIDEN trade fair in September.

Welding processes are only truly sustainable if they guarantee maximum safety and a high level of health protection for users. Welding is one of the oldest and most traditional joining processes, but also one of the most dangerous, isn’t that right?

Absolutely, the focus here is on protection against welding fumes, UV radiation, and flash burns to the eyes, as well as against heat and flames. But it's also about the right ergonomics when welding. One key issue is certainly the exposure to welding fumes. Here, for example, we are already very well positioned with our two powerful extraction systems Fronius Exento HighVac and Fronius Exento LowVac. These then create the “perfect match” when used in conjunction with the ergonomically designed Exento fume extraction torch. Welding helmets such as our Vizor series protect the eyes against flash burns and also protect against UV radiation and heat. In addition, high-quality and functional protective clothing including safety shoes and welding gloves protects against high temperatures and welding spatter.

If we assume that someone in a full-time role spends eight hours a day welding throughout their entire career, the forces at work here and the risks that come with it should really not be underestimated.

Exactly, which is why the health and safety of all welding professionals is our number one priority. We have to face the fact that there are fewer and fewer welders in the world. It should therefore be a priority for all of us to keep these welders as healthy as possible. One thing is clear: Only people who carry out welding with the optimum protection and a high level of comfort will also achieve consistently high quality. Because you can't start too early enough, we start with the youngsters when they’re doing their training. We use the Welducation Simulator for this. From a general perspective, the Welducation Simulator is an attractive tool to elevate the skilled trade of welder to a modern and attractive level. This is because learning the skills on the simulator is neither hot nor dirty, but above all it is not harmful to your health. As much as 80% of the component training can take place on the simulator, which means up to 80% less exposure to welding fumes at the end of the day. But that's just one advantage. For the first time, we are using augmented reality in our new model. You need to experience that for yourself. Anyone who wants to see these with their own eyes will have the opportunity to do so from September 11 to 15 at the Fronius stand at SCHWEISSEN & SCHNEIDEN. You can find us in Hall 3, on stand 3B55.
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