This classification covers businesses that primarily do general repair work by welding, including automotive welding.
811490 (Other Personal and Household Goods Repair and Maintenance)
Welding joins materials by applying heat, and sometimes pressure, with or without the use of a filler metal. The process joins metals by melting, fusing, and then solidifying the joined area. Welding is used to make structural components, aircraft, cars, ships, and most other metal industrial products. Industry firms do general repairs in their own shops on welded items, such as motor vehicles. Welders that travel to construction sites are in SIC 1799: Construction, Industry.
There are eight major welding techniques used for different applications. One of the most common is shielded metal-arc welding, which uses an electric arc to quickly weld a point. Cold welding, a more specialized technique, uses pressure alone to join metals without any heat. Explosion welding uses a controlled blast to pressure two metals. Other welding techniques include: diffusion, which uses heat and pressure; laser-beam; ultra-sonic, which utilizes high-frequency vibration; and variations of electric arc welding.
Massive U.S. industrial expansion during the mid 1900s created an identifiable welding repair industry. Post-World War II car and truck sales also caused demand for welding repair shops. By the end of the 1970s, welding repair revenues approached $1 billion and industry jobs surpassed 24,000. Although U.S. industrial output, particularly for cars, rose during the 1980s, inflation-adjusted welding repair revenues stagnated. The development of new welding techniques, which increased durability, was one reason for a decline in repair work. Also, increased use of synthetic metal substitutes reduced demand for future welding repairs.
There were an estimated 5,629 welding repair shops in 1998, down from 5,985 in 1987. Sales for 1998 totaled $3.1 billion, up from $1.2 billion in 1987, and a 14 percent increase from 1997. In 1998, the industry employed 26,600 workers. The total industry payroll for 1998 was $626 million. Most industry firms averaged sales of about $200,000 per year. More than 50 percent were sole proprietorships, and the average shop employed four workers. Most of the 25 biggest companies billed less than $5 million.
The largest firms in 1999 appeared to be Industrial Hardfacing Inc. of Elk River, Minnesota; Crookston Welding and Machine of Crookston, Minnesota; and Vopalensky's Inc., of North Bend, Nebraska.
Many welders got their training on the job, though vocational and technical schools offered formal training programs. Also, the U.S. military ran welding schools for its enlisted personnel. While the demand for welders by manufacturers may decline, the job outlook for welding repairers was positive because they were less likely to be replaced by automation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated the demand for welding repairers will increase 25 percent by the year 2005. Unfortunately, industry workers were paid relatively low wages, an average of $13.95 per hour.
Darnay, Arsen J., ed. Service Industries U.S.A. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1999.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. Economic Census 1997, 2000. Available from http://www.census.gov .
U.S. Department of Commerce. 1992 Census of Service Industries & Geographic Area Series. Washington, DC: Bureau of the Census, 1995.
U.S. Department of Labor. Employment Statistics, 2000. Available from http://www.bls.gov .
Ward's Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 1999.
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