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Should welding come in-house? A guide for San Diego manufacturers

You can’t find a welder to hire, and the welded parts you send out every week set your schedule. Here’s when bringing welding in-house makes sense, when it doesn’t, and what it takes to do it right.

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Aluminum part clamped in a welding fixture
Aluminum part clamped in a welding fixture.

The short answer

Bring welding in-house when you weld the same parts every week, waiting on them holds up your line, and you have floor space and someone you could train. Keep it outsourced when designs are still changing, demand comes and goes, or most of the work is certified code welding.

If you’re somewhere in between, there’s a middle path: have a shop make the part first, prove out the fixture and procedure, and bring it inside once the volume is steady.

Signals to weigh
Points to in-housePoints to keeping it outsourced
You weld the same parts every weekYour designs are still changing
Waiting on welded parts holds up your lineDemand comes and goes
You have floor space and someone you could trainMost of the work is certified code welding
Schedule control matters as much as unit costVolumes are low, or parts are one-offs

When in-house makes sense

  • Repeat parts. A fixture and a written procedure pay off when the same part comes through every week.
  • Parts that set your schedule. If your line waits on welded parts, owning that step puts the date in your hands.
  • Someone to train. You don’t need to hire a welder for repeat parts. An operator trained on your parts, running a fixture and a written procedure, can produce them.
  • Room for a cell. A welder, a table and fume extraction sized to your parts, and the floor space to run them.

When it doesn’t

  • Designs still changing. Every revision can mean a new fixture and a new procedure. Wait until the part settles.
  • Demand that comes and goes. An idle cell still takes floor space and a trained person’s time.
  • Mostly code work. Certified code welding needs qualified procedures, qualified welders and a testing plan. It’s often simpler to keep it with a shop that already has them.
  • Low volume. If a part only comes through a few times a year, the setup rarely pays back.

If that’s where you are, we’ll say so, and we’d be glad to keep making the parts.

What it takes

Four things, and none of them is a new hire.

A cell sized to your parts

The right welder, table and fume extraction for the work you actually do. Nothing you don’t need.

Fixtures

Designed in CAD and built in welded steel, 3D-printed or both, so every part sets up the same way.

A written procedure

Settings, sequence and checks for your joints, so the process doesn’t live in one person’s head.

A trained operator

Someone already on your team, trained on your actual parts and checked against your drawing. Code qualification when your work needs it.

How to weigh the cost

Start with what you spend on outsourced welding today. Compare it with the full cost of doing the work inside: labor, material, consumables, inspection, maintenance, scrap and overhead. Then weigh the setup against those savings, along with lead time and schedule control.

Count the operator’s time while they train, and the parts you’ll still send out while the cell starts up.

How Jones Welding Systems helps

NewJones Welding Systems is a new service.

It’s built on how we already make parts in our own shop: fixtures, written procedures and a first part checked against the drawing. Because it’s new, we won’t point to past installs. We’ll show you how we would set up your part.

Jones Welding Systems scope and pricing
Starting scopeFrom $15,000
AssessmentApplication assessment of your partsIncluded in the starting scope.
Training40 hours of operator training at Jones, on your partsIncluded in the starting scope.
Startup5 hours onsite at your shopIncluded in the starting scope.
Equipment and fixturesQuoted separately
Training only$10,000–$12,000

We tell you honestly when a part should stay outsourced. Sometimes the answer is: let us keep making them.

Not sure yet? Start with us making the parts. When the volume is there, we move the same fixtures and procedure into your shop.

See Welding Systems →

Before you call: five questions

  1. Which parts would you bring in, and what are they made of?
  2. How many, how often?
  3. What waits on welded parts today?
  4. What do you have now: equipment, floor space, anyone who welds?
  5. Do any of the parts need code welding or testing?

If the answer is to keep outsourcing

Then we’d be glad to keep making them. What we weld in our Vista shop, from single prototypes to production runs:

Two ways it works.

Either way, it starts with your parts and your drawing.

If we make the parts

  1. 01

    Send the drawing

    PDF, STEP or DXF, plus the quantity and the date you need the parts. NDA on request.

  2. 02

    Get a price and a ship date

    In writing. If material pricing holds up the quote, we tell you right away. Expedited runs when you need them.

  3. 03

    First part checked to print

    Part one is welded in its fixture and checked against your drawing before the run starts.

  4. 04

    The run

    Every part sets up in the same fixture, so the last part matches the first.

  5. 05

    Inspected, packed, documented

    Visual weld inspection, then packed and shipped with material certs, weld inspection reports and test results when your job needs them.

If it comes in-house

  1. 01

    We look at your parts

    We tell you straight whether bringing them in-house makes sense. If it doesn’t, we’ll say so.

  2. 02

    We size the cell

    Welder and table matched to your parts. We design and build the fixtures, quoted separately.

  3. 03

    We train your person

    40 hours in our shop, on your actual parts, welding to a written procedure.

  4. 04

    We start you up

    Five hours on your floor: setup, first parts, and a check against your drawing.

What a good setup buys you.

The same fixture-and-procedure approach we’d set up in your shop.

Seven identical plate assemblies from a 13-piece run
Seven plates from a 13-piece runWelded in our shop. The fixture holds the geometry, so part seven matches part one.

In-house welding questions.

Do we need to hire a certified welder?

Not for every job. For repeat parts, an operator trained on your parts, running a fixture and a written procedure, can do the work. If your parts need code qualification, the operator has to qualify, and we scope that testing separately.

What does it cost to start?

Jones Welding Systems starts at $15,000: an application assessment, 40 hours of operator training at Jones and 5 hours of onsite startup. Equipment and fixtures are quoted separately. Training only runs $10,000–$12,000.

How soon could we be producing parts?

It depends on part complexity, equipment availability, how ready your facility is, your operator’s starting skill and any qualification requirements. We pin those down in the assessment.

What if our parts should stay outsourced?

We’ll say so. Sometimes the right answer is to let us keep making them.

Can we start by having Jones make the parts?

Yes. Start with us making the parts. When the volume is there, we move the same fixtures and procedure into your shop.

Does Welding Systems have a track record?

Not yet. It’s a new service, so there are no past installs to point to. It’s built on the fixtures, written procedures and first-part checks we use on our own parts.

Related

Start here

Let’s look at your parts.

Tell us what you weld or send out, how often, and what needs to improve. We’ll tell you straight whether it should come in-house, or stay with us.

Shop

1485 Poinsettia Ave, Suite 106
Vista, CA 92081
Shop visits and supplier audits by appointment

We'll reply with a price and a ship date, or the questions we need answered to give you one.