Inspectors Verify Quality at Kanawha Manufacturing Company

(L to R) Tim Turley, Carl Smith, Greg Reese

Kanawha Manufacturing Company is a 102-year-old organization that produces nearly any type of fabrication imaginable. Kanawha Manufacturing Company has built trucks, an automobile and even parts for NASA. The company will attempt to build almost anything within reason (and some things beyond reason).

One of their larger projects was an aluminum refractory system for Venezuela. This job was fabricated using Incoloy® 800HT, which is a high nickel alloy produced in Huntington, West Virginia at what is now Special Metals.  The welding of this material is very sophisticated and requires extreme care and skill. The handling of the material requires special tools and gloves. The tools used required extreme cleaning processes and the tools had to be marked, "use only on nickel material". The material had to be covered at all times when no work was in progress on a particular part. There was approximately 10,000 feet of welding on this system and only one small area (about one foot long) had to be repaired.

This job and others with similar requirements demand extreme quality inspection. Two of Kanawha Manufacturing Company's inspectors, Greg Reese and Tim Turley are American Welding Society Certified Welding Inspectors.  Both have also taught as adjunct faculty members at West Virginia University - Parkersburg.  Customers and vendors agree that Kanawha Manufacturing Company's inspectors are very knowledgeable and quality conscious.

Carl Smith, quality manager and head of the welding department at West Virginia University, Parkersburg campus, says these are two of the very best inspectors with whom he has had the pleasure of teaching and working.  Smith received his own AWS-CWI training at the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology in 1981. 

The Certified Welding Inspector (CWI) certification is widely recognized, both nationally and internationally, in the welding industry.  Successful companies have come to rely on this AWS certification when ensuring the highest level of quality workmanship.  The certification of visual welding inspectors requires documentation of experience, satisfactory completion of an examination, and proof of visual acuity. The examination tests the inspector's knowledge of welding processes, welding procedures, destructive tests, terms, definitions, symbols, reports, safety and responsibilities.

To prepare for the comprehensive, six-hour examination, the Hobart Institute offers a two-week technical course, Preparation for the AWS-CWI-CWE Welding Inspector/Educator Examination.  The AWS examination is given the final day (Friday) of the two-week session.  Beginning dates for the course in 2004 are January 19, March 15, May 10, June 14, July 19, September 13, October 25, and November 29.  These classes fill quickly and you are encouraged to apply well in advance.   

The standard application processing time is (6) weeks at the American Welding Society.  Interested applicants are encouraged to allow ample time for that process. 

For further information:

ANSI/AWS QC1-96 Standard for AWS Certification of Welding Inspectors may be obtained from http://www.aws.org/certification/qc196.html

Application for the Hobart Institute class may be obtained from http://www.welding.org/CWI_CWE_INFO.pdf or by calling 1-800-332-9448. 

 Kanawha Manufacturing Company information may be found at http://www.kanawha.com

 Information about West Virginia University at Parkersburg may be obtained from http://www.wvup.edu