The WELD Shop

An established retail display fabricator takes on new metalworking challenges with LightWELD.

What’s a Success Story?

There are a lot of reasons why our customers invest in LightWELD: it might solve a specific problem for them, or help them be more productive, or they might just be excited by the technology. Whatever the reason, we love talking to them and learning about their businesses.

Our success stories are a closer look at some of our customers, what they’re working on, and how LightWELD has helped them find success. We hope that their stories can help give you a better idea of how the industry is using and benefiting from LightWELD.

If you would like to be featured in a LightWELD success story, we’d love to hear from you. Just click here to get started.

About the Company

Founded in 1984, WW Displays specializes in custom manufacturing of retail displays and fixtures. The company’s team of craftsmen has delivered well over 1,000,000 display solutions for over 200 major retail store locations nationwide. Notably, WW Displays got its start with their flagship client Crate & Barrel, serving as the original lead manufacturer for Crate & Barrel locations worldwide.

Now operating under two brands, WW Pedestals and WW Bridal Displays, the company offers consultation, design engineering, and fabrication services to provide retail fixtures in a wide range of materials and styles. Both brands produce their products in the US and prioritize quality control, attention to detail, and environmentally friendly business practices.

Learn more about WW Displays here.

The Challenge

Founded by Bill Scarim, WW Displays has primarily worked with traditional display materials like wood, laminates, and acrylics. But after his daughter Andrea Alvarez proposed that WW Displays fill a void in the bridal industry, Scarim recognized that executing her vision would require the company to broaden the range of materials in its repertoire.

Bridal storefronts are highly focused on providing high-end experiences for their customers. Shopping for a wedding dress is seen as a once-in-a-lifetime experience and fulfilling a bride-to-be’s expectations means that displays and furnishings are expected to use high-quality designs, materials, and finishes.

Providing quality products to the bridal industry, particularly custom racking for dresses and veils as well as fitting room solutions, meant that WW Displays would need to expand their capabilities with metal fabrication.

The quality of bridal storefront displays and furnishings is a key part of providing the elevated experience brides are expecting.

As early success in this new venture led to higher demand, Scarim found that he was increasingly reliant on outsourcing certain parts for larger metal fabrication projects. With outsourcing came logistical challenges and delays that tight client timeframes could not accommodate.

Scarim was keenly aware that he needed to stop relying on outside fabricators and bring additional metal working expertise and equipment in-house to continue to grow his business.

The Solution

Starting with plasma cutting and CNC machining, Scarim built a small team of four fabricators dedicated exclusively to metal fabrication. However, he found that MIG welding, and weld grinding in particular, were serious bottlenecks.

According to Scarim, “The quality of our welds is critical – everything has to look pretty. My welder would weld and grind… weld and grind… weld and grind. It wasn’t very efficient.”

For more critical work, Scarim himself would take on TIG welding projects until he found himself working extended hours just to get it all done. “The machinists would make the parts during the day and I would stay late TIG welding everything all night.”

This approach was not sustainable, but Scarim was cautious about hiring another welder due to the fluidity of WW Displays’ projects. “I was hesitant to drive up costs by hiring an experienced TIG welder that I might not always have a full workload for,” says Scarim, “And I didn’t have the time to train up a less-experienced welder.”

Searching for a solution, WW Displays’ founder first discovered handheld laser welding through YouTube. Further research led Scarim to LightWELD and he ended up traveling to FABTECH to try it for himself in IPG Photonics’ booth.

“There was a massive line at the IPG booth, but they took my name and told me to come back in 45 minutes,” says Scarim. “I came back and, right on schedule, I was taken through the process in a welding booth. I was convinced.”

WW Displays purchased its first LightWELD within a month. “The local support was amazing and with thorough training we were fully up to speed in a couple of days. Everything worked perfectly out of the box.”

According to Scarim, the biggest benefits from laser welding have been ease of use, precision, and a reduction in grinding time. He has already trained two of his metal fabricators to use LightWELD, one with no previous welding experience.

Building out WW Displays’ metal fabrication capabilities has had a big impact. “Today my team of four metal workers are responsible for about 60% of our revenue and I only see more growth in this part of the business.”

When asked about LightWELD’s impact, Scarim commented, “We recently completed a four-story boutique with hundreds of dress racks. With LightWELD it took a third of the time compared to TIG welding. A couple of projects like that and it has more than paid for itself.”

You can learn more about WW Displays and their work on their website.

Getting Started with LightWELD

WW Displays is just one of thousands of customers that have expanded their capabilities with LightWELD. But every operation is different. That’s why we’re here to help – whether you have questions about safety, what’s possible, or just want to try LightWELD before committing, we’re here to make getting started easy.

Click here to get started. We’ll take it from there.