HIREBOTICS FOR Structural Steel
Structural Steel Welding Automation for Heavy Fabrication
Beams, columns, base plates, and connections — your structural steel work demands consistent, code-quality welds on heavy material. The Hirebotics Cobot Welder handles MIG welding on thick plate and structural sections, programs from a smartphone, and frees your certified welders to focus on the complex joints that need their expertise.
600+
Fabrication shops using Hirebotics
400%
Output Increase at Advanta Southeast
4x
Throughput increase
6 mo
Average payback period
Sound Familiar?
Certified Structural Welders Are Nearly Impossible to Find
AWS D1.1 structural work requires certified welders — and they’re the most in-demand, hardest-to-recruit trade in fabrication. Every open position costs you capacity. Every welder who leaves takes months of certification investment with them. You’re turning down steel contracts because you don’t have the hands to fill them.
Heavy Plate Means Slow, Fatiguing Work
Structural steel welding is physically demanding — long seams on thick plate, overhead positions, and hours of arc time per assembly. Fatigue leads to inconsistency, and inconsistency on structural work means failed inspections, rework, and rejected loads. Your best welders burn out running repetitive fillet welds all day.
Traditional Robotic Welding Doesn’t Fit Your Workflow
Conventional robotic welding cells are built for automotive-style production — one part, thousands of repetitions. Your structural work runs in batches of 20 to 200 with varying sizes, joint types, and weld specs. Programming a traditional robot for each configuration takes longer than just doing it by hand.
How it works
How Cobot Welding Works for Structural Steel
01
Setup your weld from your phone
Open the Beacon app, touch the weld joints on your structural assembly, and set your parameters — wire speed, voltage, travel speed, weave pattern. The cobot handles MIG welding on carbon steel plate from 10-gauge up through heavy structural sections.
No teach pendant, no G-code, no robotics degree. If your welder can read a WPS, they can run this.
02
Weld & Monitor in Real Time
Let the cobot run the repetitive fillet welds, stiffener plates, and gusset connections while your certified welders focus on the full-penetration groove welds and critical joints that require their skill.
Real-time weld monitoring through Beacon tracks every parameter so you can verify quality before the part leaves the station.
03
Switch Jobs in Minutes
Save every weld program in Beacon and recall it instantly. Moving from beam-to-column connections to base plates to bracing? Pull up the saved program, load the next assembly, and start welding. No reprogramming, no integrator call, no downtime.
That’s what makes cobot welding viable for structural steel — you get robotic consistency without sacrificing the flexibility your project schedule demands.
See How Steel Fabricators Use Hirebotics
400%
Output Increase (25 to 100 Units/Day)
Same day
From unboxing to welding parts
4 cobots
Deployed across 2 facilities
“Our first Cobot Welder arrived within two weeks. By the end of that same day, we were welding parts. That never happens with robotics.”
Mark Moye
Plant Manager of Advanta Southeast
your Full-Shop automation partner
What We Automate for Structural Steel Shops
Hirebotics cobots handle the repetitive processes that slow down your structural steel production — welding, cutting, and coating — all controlled from the Beacon app. No robot programmers. No teach pendants. One platform for your entire shop floor.
MIG Welding for Structural Steel & Heavy Plate
The Cobot Welder is built for the kind of work structural steel fabricators run every day: fillet welds on beams and columns, stiffener plates, gusset connections, and base plate assemblies. It handles MIG and pulsed MIG on carbon steel, with the consistency to meet AWS D1.1 visual inspection requirements weld after weld. Program from the Beacon app, save the job, and recall it for the next batch.
Primer, Shop Coat & Protective Coatings
Structural steel doesn’t ship bare. The Cobot Painter automates primer application, shop coats, and protective finishes with consistent coverage and minimal overspray. Roll it into a spray booth, coat your assemblies, and roll it back out — no permanent install required. Ideal for shops that need to coat fabricated steel before it ships to the job site.
Plasma Cutting for Plate, Gussets & Connections
Structural fabrication starts with cut parts. The Cobot Cutter delivers clean, repeatable plasma cuts on plate steel — from thin gussets to heavy base plates. Hand-guide the torch through a path once, and the system records and automates it for every part after. Shops report rework dropping from 25% to nearly zero. No CAD/CAM programming required.
Beacon App — Weld, Cut & Paint from Your Phone
Every Hirebotics cobot runs on the same Beacon platform.
Your team learns one interface and applies it across welding, cutting, and painting. Real-time monitoring, saved job programs, and 24/7 in-app support come standard. Start with one cobot and expand as your shop grows — no new software, no retraining.
Related Resources
Ready to Automate Your Structural Steel Shop?
See how the Hirebotics Cobot Welder can increase your throughput on beams, columns, and plate work — without the complexity of traditional robotic welding cells or the overhead of hiring more certified welders.
