What is Industrial Sheet Metal Welding?

Industrial sheet metal workers work on large-scale projects; custom, one-of-a kind projects; or large shop-built modules. The metals used in this industry are often up to one-inch thick. Industrial sheet metal parts must be moved or hoisted into place using large, heavy-gauge machinery or even helicopters. In this field you may make the machines used in automotive assembly or food processing plants. You may design, assemble, and install the air handling systems needed in businesses that must have very clean air, such as computer assembly plants or the pharmaceutical industry. You might find yourself working on a specialized one-of-a kind installation almost anywhere in the world. You may work on construction sites installing large machine components or in a specialized fabrication shop. The work is highly challenging and the results are very satisfying. You will work on projects that will last for years and enhance the quality of life for many people.

Opportunities in this field include:

• AWS-ASME certified industrial welder
• Custom fabricator
• Pipe welder
• Grinder and finisher
• Press brake operator
• Power slip roll operator
• Shearing machine operator
• Plasma cutter operator
• Mobile crane operator
• Boom truck operator
• Rigging
• Field Foreman
• Shop Foreman
• Estimator
• Project Manager
• Shop Owner

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For a quick look into the experience you will have as a Industrial Welding sheet metal worker, click here.

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Industrial Welding: Curriculum

• Safety
• Materials
• Welding
• Shop skills
• Field skills
• System design basics
• Hoisting and rigging

Ready to Get Started?

If you're ready to learn more about a career in the sheet metal industry, complete the request for information form. We'll match you to a training center in your area. Your local training school or Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (JATC) will contact you in about a week.

Be prepared for a challenge.

ITI's Industrial Curriculum covers all the skills you'll need to work in an industrial sheet metal job site. By mixing class work, projects and on-the-job training, your SMWIA training will make you a well-rounded professional, thoroughly familiar with critical safety techniques and effective work practices. Over the term of your apprenticeship, you will see, hear and experience every aspect of sheet metal work.

Your teachers are veteran industry professionals, graduates of the same training. You get hands-on instruction, using state-of-the-art tools and equipment. Your textbooks include the most up-to-date information about how the trade works today. Your classroom is a learning laboratory giving you valuable experience you will apply on the job. At the same time, you will be working in the trade—earning and learning alongside skilled journeymen—to understand how your class work applies in the real world.

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Welding Curriculum

Welding is a critical component in thousands of structures that require specialized sheet metal—containment vessels, clean rooms, fume hoods, pipelines, ships, air craft and thousands of other applications. ITI's Welding Curriculum is rigorous and certification requirements are strict and demanding. It will instruct you on the appropriate application and techniques of each welding process—and the math and science behind it. Your training will include the fundamentals of metallurgy, uses of specialized equipment and the importance of safe practices and safety equipment. Students who successfully complete the course will be fully prepared for the certification tests that are required of journeyman sheet metal welding technicians.

Core Curriculum

Your SMWIA apprenticeship blends hands-on practical work experience with classroom time and projects that challenge your creativity. ITI's Core Curriculum provides a complete overview of all aspects of sheet metal work. Instructors are industry professionals, graduates of the same kind of training. Your classroom is a state of the art lab—fully equipped with the same tools and instruments that are used every day on the job. Textbooks and teaching aids include the latest technology and practical applications. Advantages of SMWIA "can-do" approach—practical knowledge reinforced by hands-on experience, under the direction of the foremost leaders in the industry.

Our "can-do" system makes it easier to master:

• Practical math
• Computer-aided design (or CAD)
• Reading blueprints
• Care and use of tools
• Fabrication of materials into usable forms
• Installation techniques

Sheet Metal Math

Math is just another tool in your box. That's why ITI's Sheet Metal Math Curriculum is presented in a practical framework that enables students to easily understand its application. You will measure, calculate and figure so often on the job that it will quickly become second nature. You will learn the "tricks" of the trade for using math in your everyday tasks—

• Calculating angles and curves;
• Figuring areas and volumes;
• Establishing heat loads and much more—

with practical, simple math formulas.

Foreman Training

What about advancement? At some point, you may want more responsibility—and bigger rewards. In that case, foreman training might be right for you. ITI's Foreman Training Curriculum builds leadership skills, develops management techniques, enables you to motivate others.

You will learn how to:

• Manage projects and understand budgeting;
• How to create a culture of safety; and
• Understand human relations.

Through SMWIA's program of continuing professional development, apprentices become journeymen who become foremen who manage projects, supervise shops or become superintendents. Experience in any of these roles is great preparation for individuals who want to one day own their own company. With SMWIA training the sky is the limit.