While the reindustrialization of France seems to have begun, the industrial professions are more than ever in tension. Each year, between 5,000 and 7,000 welders and boilermakers are missing in France. The main levers for changing this state of affairs are nevertheless known: training, robotisation, investments and the attractiveness of our industries.
In another article, we discussed how new practices in welding and Industry 4.0 could help manufacturers attract new talent.
This time we asked for the enlightened opinion of Jean-Marc Scolari, manager of Fronius France, concerning the training of welders.
Jean-Marc Scolari is the manager of Fronius France.
He also represents the welding group within the EVOLIS organization and sits on the board of directors of welding institute.
The Fronius Group specializes in the development of new solutions for the control and management of energy, for industrial battery chargers, welding techniques and photovoltaic inverters.
Engineering techniques: Is the shortage of welders an obstacle to the reindustrialization of France?
Jean-Marc Scolari: The shortage of welders is not new and for several years we have been looking for between 5,000 and 7,000 welders and boilermakers in France.
With Evolis and the Welding Institute, we are thus soliciting politicians on the shortage of welders in a context of reindustrialization and the rise in nuclear power.
We tell them: You plan to build 6 new EPRs, very well, but how are we going to do it, knowing that currently in Flamanville we have American welders and that it takes years to train an authorized welder?
However, the certifications necessary to work in the nuclear sector are expensive, between €3,500 and €5,000. If, until now, these trainings were often financed by the welders’ CPF account, the public authorities recently decided to change the rules, i.e. by imposing that the juries be equal (50% internal to the certifiers , 50% external) while welder examinations are carried out by a single qualified inspector who verifies the quality of the weld.
With Evolis and the Welding Institute, we have informed the public authorities of this aberration. Inconsistencies of this kind are unfortunately frequent and hamper reindustrialisation.
Furthermore, the war in Ukraine has also disrupted the armament sector. The company Nexter, the manufacturer of the famous Caesar cannon, for example, has undertaken to triple its production of ammunition by 2025 and, in addition to being confronted with powder supply problems, it is undergoing severe constraints with regard to the labor required for welding operations.
Can robotics and cobotics help to overcome this shortage?
When we speak of reindustrialization, we must indeed speak of robotization and more generally of process automation. At Fronius, this is a challenge that is close to our hearts and when we develop production equipment, we seek to obtain the most complete machine, and therefore the most automated possible.
Nevertheless, France is far from being the most robotized country, a country like Italy having a robotization rate per operator three times higher. So we have a lot of leeway, but that requires investment.
However, French manufacturers are often hesitant about investments and sometimes tend to restrict their capacity for innovation, because of budgets that are too fixed. This penalizes them, because they do not always perceive the added value that would allow them to conquer more profitable markets and to be more attractive when they position themselves on calls for tenders.
However, we should not delude ourselves: robotics and cobotics do not solve everything and some applications are difficult to robotize, for example in the naval sector. While some of our partners are working on the development of welding carriages on rails, automatically piloted, at present, building a boat involves a lot of manual welding, in positions that are not always comfortable. In fact, we will therefore always need welders!
Is training new welders the key?
Energy independence and armaments are strategic, sovereign areas that require sufficient financial and human resources. It will necessarily be necessary to train new welders, which will take time, but also to open many welding training centers, because the current centers will not be enough. However, training is the key to reindustrialisation.
Currently, the few dozen welder-engineers coming out of school are immediately picked up by major contractors such as EDF, Orano and Framatome.
To circumvent the shortage, some companies are forced to recruit non-technical profiles, for example bakers in retraining, and to take care of their training in-house!
Because major contractors do not expect things to change on their own. In response to the government’s abandonment of training for technical trades, they took the lead and came together to create their own welding training schools. HEFAÏS schoolcreated by EDF, Naval Group, Orano and CMN, has been hosting training sessions for company employees since September 2022[1]. But they are not the only ones, since the Atlantic shipyards et Fives Nordon have taken similar initiatives.
How to attract young people to technical courses?
The shortage of welders and technical labor comes from afar. For a long time, when a college student in secondary school is not oriented towards general education, he often sees it as a failure, because it is presented to him as a failure.
There are, of course, 3rd year internships which help to introduce people to the world of work, but that is not enough, because it is also at stake in the training of teachers, who very often do not know the industry and have an erroneous vision of the production workshops.
We must promote technical trades, restore appetite for industry and show that industry is not Zola, especially since the levels of remuneration are on average much higher than in the service.
Finally, manufacturers are aware, in view of the tensions observed on the labor market, that they must gain in attractiveness vis-à-vis the younger generations and they are ready to make the necessary efforts. This involves improving the balance between professional and personal life, working conditions, salaries, but also by modernizing production tools in order to decarbonise production in factories.
Are you interested in the welding trades and are you considering training? Here are some links to help you in your research.
[1] The school will be open to job seekers in 2023
[2] Higher Technician of the School of Adaptation to Welding Professions (EAPS)
[3] International Welding Engineer (IWE)
For further
In documentary resources
Very nice school I have interest