saw blades - what you need

Posted on: 11 October 2022

In May 2011, welders faced a severe shortage of acetylene gas, a key welding gas, after a plant in Louisville, Kentucky, exploded. Nearly 75 percent of the national supply of acetylene was eliminated in that one day. That in combination with the recent supply chain problems means that keeping a supply of welding and industrial gas cylinders in reserve is a very good idea. But if your welding company uses a number of different gases, figuring out what you need to order and when, and being able to take advantage of bulk discounts, requires some observation.

Track Which Gases Are Used Frequently, but Track Over Time

Obviously, you'll want to keep records of which gases you use, and when. You'll want to note how quickly you seem to go through one cylinder of a specific gas, too. But the key is to track this over time. You might use an extra large amount of gas during summer and less during fall, for example, depending on the projects you have. You'd want to take all the fluctuations into account before creating a system to order more gas cylinders so that you never run out. The point is to know what to order before you desperately need it, not to order so much that you have too many cylinders lying around.

Keep Shelf Life and Cylinder Pressure in Mind

After the past few years of supply chain problems, wanting to grab a bunch of cylinders and hold onto them is very understandable. Without that gas, you can't do your work, and then your company doesn't make money. But cylinders do have a shelf life of sorts, with the pressure decreasing over the years. Sometimes the gas also has a shelf life, and you don't want to get a new cylinder from your supply only to find there's little pressure and the cylinder is useless.

If Gas Use Is Variable, Choose a Number of Cylinders and Keep Those in Reserve Always

Sometimes the type of gas you need to use varies widely, and there's no real pattern to what gas is used when, or which gets used more than others. In that case, you're left with choosing a generic number of cylinders to always have in reserve, replenishing them whenever your stash dips below that number. You can still see if any multi-unit discounts on gas cylinder orders apply when you're ordering different gases, instead of several cylinders of one type of gas.

There's more than one supplier out there, so shop around and keep shopping around. Prices and policies change, and it's in your best interests to keep looking for the best deals. Contact an industrial welding gas supplier in your area such as Hohenschild Welding Supply Co to learn more.