The durability, reliability, and usability of welding equipment are crucial to Levator’s productivity in fabricating heavy cranes and components for offshore projects. Kemppi's X8 MIG Welder excelled in a four-month, 24/6 torture test at Levator's workshop with zero faults during the test period.

Located in Hanko, Finland by the Baltic Sea, Levator started almost half a century ago as Kone Oy's crane manufacturing plant. Today it operates as a contract manufacturer for Konecranes and produces also other large steel structures for both domestic and international customers.Levator‘s seaside facilities include an own harbor with high lifting capacity, which enables easy loading and shipping of the produced cranes and other structures. The production facilities also allow the fabrication and handling of very large objects. Levator considers the flexibility and efficiency brought by advanced in-house production engineering and high-level of welding expertise as the company’s key success factors.During the last years, Levator has gained new markets by producing various structures for offshore projects, such as wind farm parts and pressure vessels, in which the company can fully utilize its production skills and excellent production site location.

Main challenge

For the steel manufacturing industry, the word 'offshore' equates to strict requirements that are also followed to the hardest. Production planning, quality control and documentation must be flawless. At the same time, the production must flow smoothly and there is absolutely no room for any failures or delays. "The production schedule does not allow welding defects caused by the welding machine or that the welder has to interrupt his work due to an equipment failure,” CEO of Levator Petri Metsola states. Therefore, the reliability of welding equipment is vitally important to the success of the company.

Kemppi's solution

Levator's welding fleet consists of 200 Kemppi welding machines of which a majority is Kemppi-made equipment, representing various types and ages. The company became interested in the new X8 MIG Welder which Kemppi offered for a trial test.

“The X8 MIG Welder has all the features you can possibly think of. Kemppi’s application software provides additional arc control finesses that certainly come in handy when projects and their welding specifications vary,” Metsola says. However, he had doubts whether the new equipment with all its electronics and highly advanced digital features would endure the harsh and dusty conditions of the workshop.

During the test period, Levator decided not to focus on evaluating the finesses of the X8 MIG Welders. Instead, the machine had to undergo a brutal torture test with the heaviest possible workload. The welders were instructed to give no mercy to the machines, which were used for four months, 24/6, in assembling heavy transition pieces for offshore windmill foundations.

During this test, X8 MIG Welders worked exceptionally reliably. The only technical problem encountered was a detached button from a Control Pad that was dropped on the floor, but the button didn’t even break due to the incident. “The welders also considered the ergonomics of the machine and new welding gun as excellent. They praised the device as a true professional's tool,” Metsola commends.