GSI SLV Baltikum OÜ headquarter, Talinn, Estonia
On June 26, 2015, two large organisations, the American Welding Society (AWS) and the Regional Association of the German Welding Society (DVS) in the Baltic States, held a joint workshop in Estonia's capital, Tallinn. The conference venue for this specialist event staged by DVS was the ATB (Approved Training Body) of DVS PersZert, the Tallinna Lasnamäe Mehaanikakool (TLMK). This all-encompassing workshop brought together 75 fellow experts from eight different countries. Of great significance to the participants and the organisers: DVS's specialist event was opened by Mr. Reinhard Wiemer, Permanent Representative and Head of the Economic Section of the German Embassy.
Lecturers from the USA, Estonia, Russia and Germany introduced their organisations, reported on the main focal points of their work and discussed objectives as well as different specialist subjects:
Jeffrey Hufsey, Consultant to the American Welding Society, introduced AWS's work in the fields of welding, cutting and the allied processes. The lectures about the society work in AWS and DVS showed that "Welding Connects" but also explained that there are differences in the implementation on the continents.
Ph.D. Robert E. Shaw introduced the Steel Structures Technology Centre and, in his lecture, spoke about the role of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in welding technology and analysed the guidelines according to AWS and ASME in structural steel engineering and in the application of sets of rules. These lectures about the sets of rules according to AWS, ASME, EN and ISO standardisation constituted an introduction to questions relating to the technical challenges in today's times. Particularly for the fellow experts from the Baltic states, it was important to learn what differences exist between requirements according to AWS, sets of rules oriented to structural steel engineering and ASME's sets of rules for the construction of pressure devices.
The DVS Regional Association in the Baltic States and its activities were presented by Dipl. Ing. Boris Dudko, Member of the Board of the DVS Regional Association in the Baltic States. The members of the DVS Regional Association in the Baltic States and the participants in the workshop used the international forum in order to extend their networks and to exchange their experience extensively.
Particular emphasis should be placed on the subject introduced by Dipl. Ing. LRT Johann-Paul Lesniak, NDT Product Manager at GSI mbH. In his lecture, he talked about the comparability and reliability of qualification test objects in practical training and qualification testing according to DIN EN ISO 9712 and introduced new initial results in this field. The theoretical application possibilities in this area have already been developed. His explanations showed clearly that this subject has a lot of potential and development possibilities. Experts, specialists and researchers announced that they would continue to work on this subject together in the GSI network.
A lot of attention was paid to the lectures about the results and experience from the auditing in Baltic companies according to the requirements of the EN 1090 series of standards which were introduced by the fellow experts Dipl. Ing. S. Berzon (GSI SLV Baltikum OÜ) and Dr. Ing. H. G. Groß (DVS in the Baltic States). The report on the experience with the auditing according to the requirements of the EN 1090 standard in the Baltic states revealed very clearly to the listeners what challenges are lying ahead of the specialist plants in the Baltic states.
For the present student participants in a qualification course for welding coordinators, it was interesting to learn that the GSI network with the SLV München branch and GSI SLV Baltikum OÜ offers numerous possibilities of consolidating the level of knowledge, the training, the qualification testing and the attestation.
Not only for the up-and-coming generation in joining technology, Prof. Dr. Ing. Heidi Cramer, Branch Director of SLV München, and Dipl. Ing. Christian Ahrens, GSI Foreign Coordinator, made reference to the well-known GSI training measures for welding engineers (WE), welding technologists (WT) and welding specialists (WS).
They made the present participants aware of special training contents for welding coordinators according to EN 1090 or from the area of distance learning / e learning. These training measures can be used in the Baltic states or in the participants' countries with the aid of GSI.
The concluding podium discussion between lecturers, participants and representatives of international establishments rounded the workshop off into a successful specialist event.
One result of the workshop is a plan of measures between AWS and the DVS Regional Association in the Baltic states with the objective of making the trade journal called Welding Journal available to the members of the DVS Regional Association in the Baltic States on the website of GSI SLV Baltikum OÜ. This step will make it possible to explore new future working areas and to collaborate in projects.
The workshop continued the series of events entitled "Baltic Welding Summer" and made it possible to exchange subject-specific know-how and opinions across different countries. A follow-up event is planned at TLMK in December.
Contact: Klaus Middeldorf