Does welding equipment require a larger power supply?

In most small workshops only one piece of equipment is in use at a time, and we have observed that with one exception all the items of equipment tend to be similar in power consumption, which eases this sort of calculation. The exception is welders and similar items (x-ray machines, lasers, wire erosion machines, plasma cutters, etc.) which tend to have about four or five times the power consumption of anything else in a given workshop. With welders etc. it is very important to obtain the actual power (kW) consumption or the weld current and duty factor.