Right up to the tail end of the 19th century, forge welding was the only process used until both arc welding and oxy-fuel welding came to the fore. Global warfare in the early 20th century was largely responsible for the development of new welding processes that were both cost-effective and dependable.

Rudimentary manual processes like shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) sprang up and remain popular today. From here, gas metal arc (MIG) welding and flux-cored arc welding (FCAW) were developed. Advances in welding continued throughout the latter part of the 20th century with laser beam welding and robot welding, both of which are used in industrial settings.

We’ll focus now these industrial settings with a brief snapshot of six industries that use welding in its many different forms. As you will soon see, though, it’s MIG welding that occupies the pole position across all industries.