Fabricating: Core Competency

Mike Bokulic Jr. likes to think big. The excavation buckets made by his father's company, Mike's Welding Inc. of Fontana, CA, can top 45,000 lbs. and take weeks to fabricate.

Bokulic also thinks big when it comes to designing the buckets. Rather than use mild steel (ASTM grade A36) for the entire shell of the bucket, Mike's Welding uses hardened AR400 steel for the shell and T1 (ASTM grade A514 T1) steel for the lip. The company still relies on the standard A36 mild steel for the ears, the part that serves as the structural point of the bucket, due to its lower tensile strength. AR400 has an extremely high tensile strength, making it prone to cracking. As such, it is not recommended for use as a structural component on heavy equipment.

As a result of the material choices and specialized fabrication, the buckets from Mike's Welding cost a little more but may save customers money through longer life spans and reduced downtime.

The company applies the same cost principles to its choice of filler metals. For years, Mike's Welding relied on a less expensive, self-shield flux-cored wire (AWS classification E70T-4). That is, until it applied a big picture approach and discovered that metal-cored wire could help create a higher quality product and save more money in the long run. Like the company's buckets, metal-cored wire costs slightly more per unit (it also requires additional costs for gas), however, the benefits more than justify the upfront expense.

By switching from a flux-cored wire to Hobart Brothers' Tri-Mark Metalloy 110 gas-shielded, metal-cored wire, Mike's Welding cut approximately eight man-hours from its bucket fabrication (for a 13-yd. bucket) and has virtually eliminated expensive warranty rework on cracks along the welds. The result has been a 10% increase in productivity and a savings of approximately $560 in labor costs for a 13-yd. bucket.

Quality is Priority One

As a seven-person company whose livelihood depends on quality performance, it is aware of the impact a few defective products can have on the business. "A family-owned business is a lot different than larger production companies," Bokulic says. "It's hands-on. It's your name. It's your reputation. It's everything."

There was a lot of frustration when the company started seeing cracks forming along the welds of its buckets while working in the field.

"When we used flux-cored wire, we were experiencing cracking problems at the edge of the plate where it was beveled, and the crack would shoot down right through the welds," Bokulic says.

Even though Mike's Welding had (and has) a flexible, pragmatic warranty policy in place to manage problems such as cracking, that policy, along with the company's customer-centered attitude (the company repairs defective parts long past the industry standard of 90 days), both came at a price.

Some of the company's larger buckets cost $5,000 or more to ship back to its repair facility. If a customer opted for onsite repairs, Mike's Welding needed to hire welders. In addition to the shipping and repair expenses, Bokulic knew the impact that defective products could have on the reputation of the business.

Making the switch

Mike's Welding was first alerted to the possibility of using metal-cored wire after discussing some of the cracking issues with their welding supplier, Patrick Gonzalez of California Tool and Welding Supply.

"We talked with Mike, and he was interested in learning more about it, so we got in touch with Ed Bogner, Miller Electric and Hobart Brothers district manager to verify that a metal-cored wire would work with its applications," Gonzalez says.

With Gonzalez and Bogner's help, welding fabricators tested Metalloy 110 in 1/16 in. dia. on some of the smaller buckets. Once they were able to figure out the right gas mixture for their needs — 90% Argon and 10% CO2—and become comfortable welding with metal-cored wire, Mike's Welding knew it was onto something.