When part volume, repetition and joint length are enough to recover the fixturing and programming. Traditional cells favour high volume with few variants. Cobots and offline programming have pushed the threshold down to batch sizes in the tens for many shops, but the fixture cost per variant remains the real driver rather than the robot itself.

Without sensing, tighter than most fabrication naturally delivers, because the robot repeats a taught path regardless of where the joint actually is. A common guide is that gap variation should stay within roughly half the wire diameter. Seam tracking and adaptive fill relax this substantially, which is why they are fitted to almost any cell handling cut-and-formed parts.

Usually yes, though not the full fence a traditional cell requires. Collaborative operation addresses mechanical contact, but arc radiation, spatter and fume are hazards regardless of how the arm moves, so welding screens, curtains and extraction are still needed and a risk assessment is still required. Cobots reduce guarding; they do not remove the duty.

Speed, payload, reach and how they are taught and guarded. Industrial arms are faster, carry more and reach further, and must be fenced. Cobots are hand-guided for teaching, slower, and can share space with the operator under an assessed risk, which suits high-mix low-volume work where the arm may be moved between jobs.

Three ways in practice. Teaching by pendant, moving the arm point to point; hand-guiding on a cobot, which is far quicker for simple parts; and offline programming from CAD, which generates the path away from the machine and only needs touch-up on the floor. Offline programming becomes worthwhile as variant count rises.

GMAW and flux-cored wire processes dominate, because continuous wire feed suits continuous unattended operation. Robotic GTAW is used where the joint quality justifies the slower speed, typically on thin stainless and aerospace work. Resistance spot welding is heavily automated in its own right, and laser welding occupies the high-speed end.

Consumable life and spatter, more than the robot. Contact tips wear and nozzles clog, so torch cleaning stations, anti-spatter application and wire cutters are fitted to keep the torch serviceable between interventions. Wire drum capacity, gas supply and the positioner's cycle set the rest.