Time is money, so having a machine unavailable to work in the middle of a job just isn’t an option. And according to a recent study by a leading OEM, machine downtime is caused by human error 70% of the time.
But operator training will also reduce excessive machine wear and prevent the misuse of equipment that not only increases fuel costs, but also leads to accidents that damage equipment and cause injuries, increasing insurance costs.
Simulation for training? At Simlog, you’ll get the right kind of simulated tasks, the right kind of task progression, and the right way of evaluating simulated work in a way that comprehensively measures productivity and quality. And that documentation will help you increase accountability and reduce legal liability, if something happens later.
No “games”, no OEM sales tools, just professional operator training products. And after almost twenty-five years in business, we are the world-wide standard in cost-effective simulation.
According to research recently conducted by the CII about construction industry projects, investing just 1% of the total labour budget in training reaps multiple dividends:
injuries decrease 27% (OSHA reportable accidents)
re-work decreases 26% (including waste and work of poor quality)
absenteeism decreases 15% (employees who fail to report for work)
turnover decreases 14% (employees who just leave)
productivity improves 11% (as measured by the number of hours to complete a given task)
Regarding heavy equipment, properly trained people operate their machines more productively, and at reduced cost. And that’s why “getting” good operators is key to making your business better. Simlog can help!
Improve your recruiting efforts (and bring new visibility to your company)
Everyone knows that the best way to recruit in a competitive market is to meet people where they are already. And that’s why our customers bring their “training” simulators to job fairs, school open houses, and all kinds of other regional events. (Just watch the lineups form!) In this way, they also make themselves more “visible” in their local communities.
Make better hiring decisions: pre-employment skills assessment
When hiring a new employee, true qualifications are typically “discovered” when work begins at the first job site, at the controls of your real equipment. And that’s because Human Resources don’t have the necessary expertise to ask the right questions. Worse, CVs often contain misleading elements that exaggerate competencies or responsibilities.
Double checking operating skills, before hiring, is easy to do with our Personal Simulator, since Human Resources can simply compare simulation results with benchmarks (target values) established by your best operators. Since everyone does the very same simulated work, this really is a case of “apples and apples”.
Pre-screen for operator aptitude when promoting from within
Industrial psychologists have learned that operating heavy equipment requires a combination manual dexterity, eye/hand coordination, depth perception, and spatial “reasoning”. Unfortunately, up to 30% of training candidates don’t have enough and for that reason, will never become fully proficient.
Watching movies of equipment at work, or sitting beside an experienced operator in the cab, only goes so far. And that’s because acquiring skills is all about learning by doing.
But training at the controls of real equipment is dangerous, and expensive. First, consider what you pay to own and operate that equipment, plus the time spent by your instructor to supervise the training. Then there are the costs associated with even small accidents due to inexperience, often thousands of dollars in replacement parts and downtime. There are merchandise costs too, because loads will inevitably be damaged or “lost”. Finally, there’s always the risk of injury (or worse).
Well at Simlog, our Personal Simulators are “generic” and teach core skills, making it easy to proceed to “hands-on” training on a variety of real heavy equipment.
And our Instructional Designs take into account best in class practices from leading training professionals from around the world, along with certification guidelines from key standards organizations such as the Canadian Standards Association, the NCCER for construction equipment, the NCCCO for cranes, and OSHA and the National Safety Council for forklifts.
And by making sure that your new operators have learned good habits well enough before they “graduate” to the controls of your real equipment, the real seat-time training becomes
safer, because “accidents” now happen at the simulator
better, because students are learning to do things right, at the simulator
faster, because your students reach their performance targets sooner. That means less “wear and tear” on your equipment, leading to lower maintenance and repair costs.
cheaper, thanks to all of the above
In this way, training costs go down, training quality goes up, and your new operators are more “job ready”!
Help experienced operators refresh their skills
At many companies, people aren’t at the controls every day, so Simlog products can help them regain confidence in their operating skills in a “just in time” way.
Such skills “refreshing” is also important for people who are cross-training, or getting ready to step in when your regular operators are unavailable (on holiday, recovering from an illness, etc.).
Reveal bad operating habits (and help develop new right ones)
An experienced operator keeps doing the very same (wrong) thing until the day other things are different, and then all of a sudden there’s an “incident” or worse, a real accident.
Use your Personal Simulator to help reveal the bad habits of that experienced operator, and then develop new right ones, all according to best in class practices.
Monitor progress onsite and offsite
Larger companies typically have multiple site offices, and it becomes hard for Human Resources to keep track of what’s going in.
With our Simulation Manager, simulation results are saved in a database file, indexed by user, each with a unique login name. Where there are multiple Personal Simulators deployed together, just one Simulation Manager is needed because all of simulation results will be saved in the same database.
Simlog also offers a free Viewer so that people at other locations can review the same simulation results, using a local copy of that database file.
Join a world-wide community of leading industry professionals
Becoming a Simlog customer means joining a growing community of leading private sector and public sector equipment owner operators around the world, all dedicated to improving heavy equipment operator training.
Share simulation benchmarks, best practices, and suggestions to help Simlog make our Personal Simulators even better.
Material Handling
Lift trucks are the work horses of material handling, and they can be found at work in all kinds of applications around the world. But operating such equipment safely, and productively, requires aptitude and skill.
With Personal Simulators to help train operators for powered lift truck operations (counterbalance Forklift, Reach Lift Truck), for material handling on jobsites (Skid Steer Loader with forks, Wheel Loader with forks), and for work in scrap-metal recycling (Wheeled Material Handler), our customers can be found all around the world in industries that include transportation, warehousing, steel making, mining, construction, forestry, and even recruiting (placement agencies).
Our products all feature instructional designs that look to training standards and in the United States, the two leading organizations are the NSC (National Safety Council) and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration). In this way, our simulation exercises teach you the “core skills” needed to pass the “Practical Exams” (demonstration of skills tests) conducted at the controls of real equipment.
Customer Success Story
How Toyotetsu America’s Onboarding Reduced the Use of Real Lift Trucks by 50% with Training Simulation. Customer success story, March 2, 2023.
Miami Springs Senior High School’s “Prologis Trade and Logistics Academy” Featuring Simlog’s Forklift Personal Simulator. Customer Story and Video, November 8, 2019
Here we present one Simlog customer, a Transportation Distribution and Logistics Academy in the United States that is training and OSHA-certifying forklift operators. November 3, 2015.
The kinds of heavy equipment used by cities, towns, regions, and states to maintain public works is increasingly complex, costly, and difficult to operate productively. In addition, there is increasing public support for better workplace practices and improved workplace safety. As a result, proper operator training has become a priority. For example, using our products, public works organizations can reduce the variability in skills from operator to operator, in order to provide better services to their tax-paying communities.
Our products all feature instructional designs that look to training standards. In this way, our simulation exercises teach you the “core skills” needed to pass “Practical Exams” (demonstration of skills tests) conducted at the controls of real equipment.
Customer Success Story
Apprentices from the Utility Craftsworker program at the Department of Water Resources in the State of California are now training with Simlog’s Backhoe Loader, Bulldozer, Forklift, Hydraulic Excavator, Mobile Crane, Skid Steer Loader, and Wheel Loader Personal Simulators.
Here we present a Customer Success Story about a city in Canada that is using our products to replace the costly recruiting of “outside” people, by carefully developing new operators from “within”, i.e. city employees who have already demonstrated the right attitude. July 5, 2010.
Modern construction industry and lifting equipment is complex, costly, and difficult to operate productively. In addition, there is increasing public support for better workplace practices and improved workplace safety, making operator certification a reality in some geographic areas. As a result, proper operator training has become a priority.
Construction
With Personal Simulators to help train operators for a wide range of earth-moving equipment (Skid Steer Loader, Backhoe Loader, Hydraulic Excavator, Bulldozer, Wheel Loader) and material handling (Forklift), our customers can be found all around the world, and they range from small and mid-size construction industry contractors operating in regional markets, to the largest Engineering Procurement Construction Management companies.
Our products all feature instructional designs that look to training standards and in the United States, the leading organization is the NCCER. In this way, our simulation exercises teach you the “core skills” needed to pass the “Practical Exams” (demonstration of skills tests) conducted at the controls of real equipment.
Customer Success Story
At Floyd County School of Innovation, there is a Personal Simulator lab for Hydraulic Excavator and Bulldozer operator training. Customer Story and Video, July 8th 2020
Customer Success Story
At Flagler Technical Institute, there is a Personal Simulator lab for Simlog’s Hydraulic Excavator operator training.
With Personal Simulators to help train operators for cranes (Mobile Crane, Tower Crane) and material handling equipment (Forklift), our customers can be found all around the world, in construction, lifting services, energy (power generation, petrochemical refining), railway transportation, mining, maritime ports, and even military facilities (Army, Navy, Air Force).
Our products all feature instructional designs that look to training standards and in the United States, the leading organizations are the NCCCO and the NCCER. In this way, our simulation exercises teach you the “core skills” needed to pass their “Practical Exams” (demonstration of skills tests) conducted at the controls of real equipment to obtain Mobile Crane Operator, Tower Crane Operator, and Signal Person certification.
Customer Success Story
Here we present one Simlog customer, Bechtel Equipment Operations, that is using seven of our products for their projects in North and South America.
Modern mining equipment is increasingly complex, costly, and difficult to operate productively. As a result, proper operator training has become everyone’s business. The fact is, it takes training to spot a truck and position it for loading under a full bucket. It also takes training to back up a truck just using mirrors under that bucket. Otherwise, your mining operations will suffer from lower productivity, higher fuel costs, increased tire wear, and more equipment maintenance and repair.
Our products all feature instructional designs that look to training standards. In this way, our simulation exercises teach you the “core skills” needed to pass “Practical Exams” (demonstration of skills tests) conducted at the controls of real equipment.
Article
Here we present a mining industry magazine article that summarizes the merits of simulation for operator training in the mining industry, that makes reference to several Simlog customers.
Here we present a company in Mauritania, Africa that uses Simlog’s Mining Truck simulators to train new operators at their corporate office. January 22, 2012.
Modern forestry equipment is increasingly complex, costly, and difficult to operate productively. In addition, there is increasing public support for better workplace practices and improved workplace safety, making operator certification a reality in some geographic areas. As a result, proper operator training has become a priority.
Our products all feature instructional designs that look to training standards. In this way, our simulation exercises teach you the “core skills” needed to pass “Practical Exams” (demonstration of skills tests) conducted at the controls of real equipment.
Here we present a presentation that was given at the World Forest Engineering Conference about a vocational training school in Canada using the Harvester and Forwarder Personal Simulators.
According to research recently conducted by the CII about construction industry projects, investing just 1% of the total labour budget in training reaps multiple dividends:
injuries decrease 27% (OSHA reportable accidents)
re-work decreases 26% (including waste and work of poor quality)
absenteeism decreases 15% (employees who fail to report for work)
turnover decreases 14% (employees who just leave)
productivity improves 11% (as measured by the number of hours to complete a given task)
Regarding heavy equipment, properly trained people operate their machines more productively, and at reduced cost. And that’s why “getting” good operators is key to making your business better. Simlog can help!
Improve your recruiting efforts (and bring new visibility to your company)
Everyone knows that the best way to recruit in a competitive market is to meet people where they are already. And that’s why our customers bring their “training” simulators to job fairs, school open houses, and all kinds of other regional events. (Just watch the lineups form!) In this way, they also make themselves more “visible” in their local communities.
Make better hiring decisions: pre-employment skills assessment
When hiring a new employee, true qualifications are typically “discovered” when work begins at the first job site, at the controls of your real equipment. And that’s because Human Resources don’t have the necessary expertise to ask the right questions. Worse, CVs often contain misleading elements that exaggerate competencies or responsibilities.
Double checking operating skills, before hiring, is easy to do with our Personal Simulator, since Human Resources can simply compare simulation results with benchmarks (target values) established by your best operators. Since everyone does the very same simulated work, this really is a case of “apples and apples”.
Pre-screen for operator aptitude when promoting from within
Industrial psychologists have learned that operating heavy equipment requires a combination manual dexterity, eye/hand coordination, depth perception, and spatial “reasoning”. Unfortunately, up to 30% of training candidates don’t have enough and for that reason, will never become fully proficient.
Watching movies of equipment at work, or sitting beside an experienced operator in the cab, only goes so far. And that’s because acquiring skills is all about learning by doing.
But training at the controls of real equipment is dangerous, and expensive. First, consider what you pay to own and operate that equipment, plus the time spent by your instructor to supervise the training. Then there are the costs associated with even small accidents due to inexperience, often thousands of dollars in replacement parts and downtime. There are merchandise costs too, because loads will inevitably be damaged or “lost”. Finally, there’s always the risk of injury (or worse).
Well at Simlog, our Personal Simulators are “generic” and teach core skills, making it easy to proceed to “hands-on” training on a variety of real heavy equipment.
And our Instructional Designs take into account best in class practices from leading training professionals from around the world, along with certification guidelines from key standards organizations such as the Canadian Standards Association, the NCCER for construction equipment, the NCCCO for cranes, and OSHA and the National Safety Council for forklifts.
And by making sure that your new operators have learned good habits well enough before they “graduate” to the controls of your real equipment, the real seat-time training becomes
safer, because “accidents” now happen at the simulator
better, because students are learning to do things right, at the simulator
faster, because your students reach their performance targets sooner. That means less “wear and tear” on your equipment, leading to lower maintenance and repair costs.
cheaper, thanks to all of the above
In this way, training costs go down, training quality goes up, and your new operators are more “job ready”!
Help experienced operators refresh their skills
At many companies, people aren’t at the controls every day, so Simlog products can help them regain confidence in their operating skills in a “just in time” way.
Such skills “refreshing” is also important for people who are cross-training, or getting ready to step in when your regular operators are unavailable (on holiday, recovering from an illness, etc.).
Reveal bad operating habits (and help develop new right ones)
An experienced operator keeps doing the very same (wrong) thing until the day other things are different, and then all of a sudden there’s an “incident” or worse, a real accident.
Use your Personal Simulator to help reveal the bad habits of that experienced operator, and then develop new right ones, all according to best in class practices.
Monitor progress onsite and offsite
Larger companies typically have multiple site offices, and it becomes hard for Human Resources to keep track of what’s going in.
With our Simulation Manager, simulation results are saved in a database file, indexed by user, each with a unique login name. Where there are multiple Personal Simulators deployed together, just one Simulation Manager is needed because all of simulation results will be saved in the same database.
Simlog also offers a free Viewer so that people at other locations can review the same simulation results, using a local copy of that database file.
Join a world-wide community of leading industry professionals
Becoming a Simlog customer means joining a growing community of leading private sector and public sector equipment owner operators around the world, all dedicated to improving heavy equipment operator training.
Share simulation benchmarks, best practices, and suggestions to help Simlog make our Personal Simulators even better.
