A welding electrode selection system , comprising: a spectrometer which scans a surface of a material to be welded and generates material scan data representative of a composition of said material to be welded in a welding operation; a welding electrode selection device comprising a controller and a user input and display device, wherein said welding electrode selection device receives said material scan data, a desired weld property for said welding operation and at least one welding parameter for said welding operation, and each of said material scan data, said desired weld property and said at least one parameter are provided to said controller, wherein said controller determines a first predicted weld property for said welding operation utilizing each of said material scan data, said desired weld property , said at least one parameter and a first welding electrode, and a second predicted weld property for said welding operation utilizing each of said material scan data, said desired weld property, said at least one parameter and a second welding electrode, wherein said welding electrode selection device compares each of said first predicted weld property and said second predicted weld property to said desired weld property , and wherein said welding electrode selection device displays on said display device a visual representation of said comparison of said desired weld property to at least one of said first and said second predicted weld property , wherein said welding electrode selection device can be in a welding power supply , and/or where said welding electrode selection device is a mobile communication device, and where said spectrometer is coupled to said welding electrode selection device such that said material scan data is provided directly to said welding electrode selection device without a user intervention. a spectrometer which scans a surface of a material to be welded and generates material scan data representative of a composition of said material to be welded in a welding operation; a welding electrode selection device comprising a controller and a user input and display device, wherein said welding electrode selection device receives said material scan data, a desired weld property for said welding operation and at least one welding parameter for said welding operation, and each of said material scan data, said desired weld property and said at least one parameter are provided to said controller, wherein said controller determines a first predicted weld property for said welding operation utilizing each of said material scan data, said desired weld property , said at least one parameter and a first welding electrode, and a second predicted weld property for said welding operation utilizing each of said material scan data, said desired weld property, said at least one parameter and a second welding electrode, wherein said welding electrode selection device compares each of said first predicted weld property and said second predicted weld property to said desired weld property , and wherein said welding electrode selection device displays on said display device a visual representation of said comparison of said desired weld property to at least one of said first and said second predicted weld property , wherein said welding electrode selection device can be in a welding power supply , and/or where said welding electrode selection device is a mobile communication device, and where said spectrometer is coupled to said welding electrode selection device such that said material scan data is provided directly to said welding electrode selection device without a user intervention. <EOS>