Test Weld Isn’t a Four-Letter Word

   You have all seen it. You have all shaken your head at it. You have all cast judgment on its cause. At the very least – you have all heard about it. At least once. Front office, back office, parts person, estimator, manager, body tech, painter, detailer, appraiser, trainer, salesperson, receptionist or helper… Whether you have been in the business for a month or if your career pre-dates Google like mine does, you have all been party somehow to the dreaded “re-repair,” the car that someone else repaired and now here it is – in all its glory – in a bay where you work. 

     You’ve witnessed the looks of shock and horror as the tech begins to take weatherstrips and trim off, peeling back the carpet to expose something that will hopefully only live at your shop for a short while – but the tales about it will go on much longer. Typically, someone – who likely sounds personally offended – will offer up, “Look at those welds!” 

     It might even make you question if they bothered performing any test welds at all. After the dust settles and the shop gets back to work, do you wonder what SOPs that shop has in place that would allow something like this to be delivered? Do you think,  “Where was the quality control?” You know, the in-process checks on the checklist that is laminated to the manager’s clipboard that should have never allowed this to happen? 

     I have a challenge for you: Grab a pen and a paper or open your notes app, take a minute, and write down a quick summary of what you know your company’s test weld SOP to be. If you are currently in a segment of the industry that is not involved in the physical aspect of repairing vehicles, list a few things you think would be important to include in an SOP for welding on the vehicle. Be honest: this is for you, and no one will see it unless you show them.