Benefits of Better PQR and WPS Management

In welding and fabrication, everything must be traceable. If your company is part of a team building a bridge, a pressure vessel, or an offshore structure, and a problem arises after completion, you need to be able to demonstrate immediately that your work was carried out correctly — the right welder, the right procedure, the right filler metal, the right parameters. If that evidence is buried in spreadsheets, the consequences of not finding it quickly can be severe.

The challenge is significant. A single project can involve thousands of procedures, each with 30–40 variables — diameter, thickness, base material, filler metal, preheat, interpass temperature, and more. One typo in a manual entry can put the integrity of the entire record in question. And when a highly paid engineer is the person responsible for entering that data, the cost in time and salary is substantial — it can take days to enter the variables for a single project.

The Case for Digitalisation

Digitalising your PQR, WPS, and WPQ management removes the risk of manual error, reduces administrative overhead, and gives every member of your team — from welding engineers to production managers — instant access to the records they need.

WeldCloud Notes is ESAB's cloud-based welding documentation platform. It manages Procedure Qualification Records (PQRs), Welding Procedure Specifications (WPSs), and Welder Performance Qualifications (WPQs) in a single secure system — with built-in code compliance checking for ASME IX, AWS D1.1, AWS B2.1, ISO 15614-1, and ISO 9606-1.

Instead of searching through spreadsheets when something goes wrong, every detail you need is a single click away.

What WeldCloud Notes Does for Each Role in Your Team

For production and operations managers

• Check production status across all shops from a single dashboard
• Identify bottlenecks and underperforming stations quickly
• Reduce repair rates by identifying and removing weak procedures
• Compare live weld data against predefined specification limits in real time
• Target underperforming welders for additional training or reassignment based on data, not assumption

For welding engineers

• Search company PQR, WPS, and welder qualification records by base material, filler metal, or process in seconds
• Analyse and compare project requirements against existing qualifications to identify gaps before work starts
• Create new procedures based on existing qualifications, introduce essential variables, calculate approval ranges automatically, and generate a compliant PDF — all in minutes rather than days
• Built-in code checking means WPSs are guaranteed compliant before they leave the engineering team

For the wider team

• Access all procedures, qualifications, and records in one place — no more hunting across shared drives or filing cabinets
• Search for the correct qualifications for a job, create welding procedures, log welding records, track production progress, and print reports for any activity
• Role-based permissions ensure the right people have access to the right information, with multiple company support for large corporations and smaller businesses alike

Welder Continuity and Qualification Management

Managing welder continuity is one of the most time-consuming administrative challenges in large fabrication operations. When you have hundreds or thousands of welders across multiple concurrent projects — each with different end dates, different qualification requirements, and welders moving between jobs — it is easy for certifications to lapse unnoticed.

A welder who completes their activity on one project and moves on can get lost in the system. By the time they are needed urgently on another job, their qualifications may have expired. Requalifying welders at short notice is expensive and causes delays.

WeldCloud Notes solves this directly:

• Every welder's certifications and expiry dates are visible at a glance
• Automated notifications alert you when a welder is due for recertification — before the qualification lapses
• Cross-referencing welders against their Welder Qualification Test Records takes seconds
• When submitting bids, you can immediately verify whether you have sufficient qualified welders available for the scope of work — removing a common source of bid risk

Protecting Your Business When Things Go Wrong

Even on well-run projects, issues can arise after completion. A client raises a concern. An inspection finds a problem. A structure is being modified and the original fabricator is contacted. In these situations, the ability to produce a complete, accurate, tamper-evident audit trail is the difference between a straightforward resolution and an expensive dispute.

With WeldCloud Notes, you can demonstrate immediately:

• Which qualified welder performed the work
• Which WPS was followed and that it was code-compliant
• What filler metal was used and its specification
• What parameters were recorded and that they fell within specification limits

All data is stored securely in the cloud, accessible from anywhere, and protected from the accidental loss or corruption that affects paper-based and spreadsheet systems. It functions, in effect, as your company's insurance policy for every project you complete.

The Bottom Line

Poor PQR and WPS management is a source of risk, cost, and administrative burden that is entirely avoidable. WeldCloud Notes eliminates manual data entry errors, reduces the time engineers spend on paperwork, keeps welder qualifications current without manual chasing, and gives every member of your team the information they need — when they need it.

The result is more competitive bids, fewer qualification lapses, faster documentation turnaround, and the confidence that if questions arise about your work, the answers are already there.

Explore WeldCloud Notes →