Can tack welding be automated?

Tacking is often a better first welding project than final welding, because it needs less precision and it unblocks the welders you already have.

Free, about two minutes, no phone number. You get an honest no when a robot is the wrong answer.

What the job actually is

Somebody holds or clamps components in position and lays down short tacks to hold the assembly before final welding. It is fiddly, it is upstream of the skilled work, and it consumes welder hours that could go to actual welding.

Signs it is worth automating

• Your skilled welders spend meaningful time tacking rather than welding.
• Assemblies repeat enough to fixture even loosely.
• Tack placement is consistent and documented or easily documented.
• You want a first welding project with lower risk than full production welding.

What the cell looks like

A cobot or fenced arm with a standard torch over a fixture that locates the components. Tolerances are looser than final welding, so fixturing is simpler and cheaper. Often paired with a manual final weld station downstream.

This is one job inside a bigger family. The welding guide covers the equipment classes, the cost ranges, and the disqualifiers for all of it.

When the answer is no

• Components vary enough that a fixture cannot locate them repeatably.
• Your assemblies are one off, so fixture cost has nothing to amortize against.
• Fit up quality upstream is poor, so the tack position moves. Fix the cutting or forming first.
• Volume is low enough that a fixture and a person is the cheaper answer.

What an engineer has to verify

• Component fit up variation coming out of your cutting and forming.
• Fixture concept and cost for the assemblies that repeat most.
• Tack schedule: how many, where, and whether it is documented.
• Whether the downstream welder accepts robot placed tacks.
• Cycle time against how many assemblies you actually tack per week.

Safety is not on that list because it is not ours to determine. Cell design, guarding and the risk assessment belong to an independent certified integrator, every time.

What the research says

Peer reviewed work from our research library on this application. These are studies of other plants and other settings, not a prediction about yours, and the excerpts are the authors' own words. Every title links to the source so you can check us.

• Optimization of the cycle time of robotics resistance spot welding for automotive applications Harish Kumar Banga et al. (2021), Journal of Advanced Manufacturing and Processing

  From the abstract: “In the automobile manufacturing industry, resistance spot welding (RSW) is widely used, especially to build the car's body.”

• Robotic welding techniques in marine structures and production processes: A systematic literature review Sufian Imam Wahidi et al. (2024), Marine Structures

  From the abstract: “Robotic welding has garnered significant attention in the maritime industry for its potential to enhance marine structure quality and optimize production processes.”

• Human-robot collaborative assembly and welding: A review and analysis of the state of the art Yue Cao et al. (2024), Journal of Manufacturing Processes

  From the abstract: “This paper reviews and analyzes the recent progress in human-robot collaborative (HRC) technologies that enhance assembly and welding processes .”

• Qualification of a Collaborative Human-robot Welding Cell Dario Antonelli and Sergey V. Astanin (2016), Procedia CIRP

  From the abstract: “This work is focused on evaluating performance of a collaborative robot welding cell developed in our previous research.”

• A Sustainable Decision-Making Framework for Transitioning to Robotic Welding for Small and Medium Manufacturers Kyle Epping and Hao Zhang (2018), Sustainability

  From the abstract: “Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face challenges in implementing industrial robotics in their manufacturing due to limited resources and expertise.”

The full robotic and cobot welding shelf has 13 works.

Someone has already done this

See it run

Two clips of this job actually running, from two different manufacturers. Both are the makers' own marketing footage, showing a cell under good conditions with a part it was set up for, so watch them for what the motion looks like rather than as evidence of what your rate would be.