Technical Bulletin

Lokring™ & Welding: Cost Savings

“While there are differences in the cost of shielding gases, the impact of that cost in
welding is relatively insignificant when considering the total cost of the welding
operation. Gas costs are rarely more than 3-5 percent of the total cost of producing a
weld. Labor and overhead costs vary, depending on the base material being welded,
but typically ranges from 80-90 percent (in the USA, Canada and Europe).”
-Praxair Technology, Inc.
www.praxair.com/praxair.nsf/0/c70f27dd9ebbffee8525655900011f94?OpenDocument

Lokring Incident Reduction Plan (IRP) Reduces Overhead & Labor Costs by:

ƒ Reconfiguring welder/fitter crews to fitter/helper crews, hence lowering the composite

crew rate by 10-20%, which translates into labor cost savings of 60% or more
ƒ Increasing productivity since fitter/helper teams can install 50-60 Lokring fittings in a
single shift (over double the rate of welding installations)
ƒ Eliminating overhead costs relating to safety, personnel, inspection, rework and
monitoring that are pertinent for welding. These include:
Ædraining and drying lines Æestablishing fire watches
Æobtaining fire permits for hot work Æbuilding of fire boxes/tarps
Æworkers’ compensation, insurance & benefits Æerecting scaffolds
Æsystem soaking, flushing and passivation (HAZMAT disposal)
ƒ Eliminating equipment and supplies costs such as blank flanges and nozzles, cranes,
welders, grinders and small tools, weld X-rays or other NDTs, electric cables and purge
lines

Burlington Facility – 960 Gateway Drive, Burlington, Ontario L7L 5K7

Phone: 905-639-4050 Fax: 905-639-6163
US Facility – 38376 Apollo Parkway, Willoughby, Ohio 44094
LOKRING® is a registered
trademark of Lokring Technologies Phone: 440-602-5770 Fax: 440-942-1186
Corporation
LOKRING™ is a trademark of WWW.LOKRING.COM
Lokring Technologies Corporation
This communication and any information drawn from it are the confidential property of Lokring Technologies
Corporation and are provided to you for a specific purpose. The information may not be copied, exhibited, or
provided in any form to others without the written consent of Lokring Technologies Corporation.
Technical Bulletin
Lokring™ & Welding: Cost Savings

Lokring Incident Reduction Plan (IRP) Eradicates Rework Expenses:

• Fittings have an extremely low rejection rate (less than .01%), in comparison to
average carbon steel field butt welds rejection rates (5-7%) and stainless steel
field butt welds rejection rates (16-18%)
• Fittings have a minimal rework rate (less than 1/10 of 1%), which is significantly
lower than other pipe joining methods (5-10%)
• No rework of damaged or misaligned spools is necessary
• No need to monitor flanges for leakage with Lokring connections

Lokring & Welding: Installed Cost Savings

Inputs Welded Lokring

Linear Feet of Pipe 5,000 5,000
Hourly Labor Rate $15.00 $13.50
Total Fittings 500 500
Filling Density (per linear foot) 0.1 0.1
Average Fitting Price (each) $5.00 $100.00
Total Net Fitting Value $2,500.00 $50,000.00
Productivity (Man hours/linear 1.5 0.5
Foot)
Total Labor Cost $112,500.00 $33,750.00
TOTAL COST $115,000.00 $83,750.00

Lokring Labor Savings $78,750.00

Lokring Material Increase $47,500.00
TOTAL LOKRING SAVINGS $31,250.00
PROJECT SAVINGS (% Reduction) 27%

2
 Weld Cost Worksheet
Based on a survey of a variety of piping engineers and maintenance personnel, the following
costs associated with welding have been identified. Not all of these costs are applicable to all
welds, for example: Stainless steel welds are more costly than carbon steel welds and field welds
cost more than shop welds. However, this checklist permits the plant engineer, area manager, or
maintenance manager to consider the total direct and indirect cost of a field weld as compared to
the cost of using LOKRING™ fittings to repair or fabricate field piping systems.

Total Cost
A. Cost of Journeyman Welder
ƒ Direct Cost (Base Pay & Benefits) $________/hour
ƒ Fully Loaded Cost (Direct Cost & Job Overhead) $________/hour
ƒ Cost of Welder Qualifications/Certification $________

B. Weld Cost Set-Up/Preparation Cost

ƒ Cost (Time) to obtain Fire Permit $________
ƒ Cost to Drain/Flush Line $________
ƒ Cost (Time) to Dry Line $________
ƒ Cost (Time) to Blank flanges & nozzles $________
ƒ Cost (Time) to “Sniff Area” $________
ƒ Loaded Cost to “Fire Watch” $________
ƒ Cost (Time) of Fire Permit Delays (Crews Waiting) $________
ƒ Cost (Time) to build “Fire Box” or “Hot Box” $________
ƒ Cost of Material use in “Fire Box” or “Hot Box” $________
ƒ Cost of Placing Weld Equipment $________
ƒ Cost of Erecting and Disassembling Scaffold $________
ƒ Insurance Costs $________

C. Direct Weld Costs

ƒ Cost (Time) to Bevel/Prepare Pipe $________
ƒ Cost of Consumables (Argon Purge, Rod, etc.) $________
ƒ Cost (Time) to Weld $________

D. Post-Weld and Rework Costs

ƒ Cost of X-Ray for Verification (Initial & Follow-up) $________
ƒ Cost (Time) of Passivation (Acid bath after Welding) $________
ƒ Cost (Time) of Stress Relieving (Post Weld Annealing) $________
ƒ Cost (Time) of Field Rework of Prefab Work $________
ƒ Cost (Time) of Rework flanges due to Wrong Studs/Nuts, $________
Gaskets, Alignment, etc.