Recognizing Red Flags: Training Workers to Prioritize Safety
Do you keep an eye out for red flags? If you’re still looking for that someone special, you might see red flags when their online dating profile indicates they’re unemployed and still living in their parents’ basement.
But those aren’t the red flags we’re talking about in this article. Red flags signify danger. They’re warning signs, and today’s workers need to recognize them in the workplace. Why? Their safety and wellbeing depends upon it.
Workplace safety remains a critical component of any industry’s success, yet it too frequently doesn’t get the attention it deserves. New technologies and the latest and greatest advances tend to capture the most attention, but the basics of safety can bring everything to a grinding halt if they’re ignored.
In this article, we’ll take a look at five red flags that workers must learn to recognize in order to make safety a top priority. We’ll also explain the importance of safety training and how the training tools offered by DAC Worldwide can help workers learn the skills that will keep them safe in the modern workplace.
5 Safety Red Flags Employees Must Learn to Recognize
How important is worker safety in your workplace? According to an IndustryWeek article by Matt Thiel and Dan Idzikowski, “nearly all [manufacturers] will say [safety is] a top priority…At the same time, the features and processes intended to keep people safe are rarely put to the test until a crisis occurs. It’s only when safety fails — when there is an injury or a near-miss — that companies question whether they are doing enough to protect workers.”
Modern industrial workplaces feature a wide variety of safety features designed to keep workers safe. Yet, workplace injuries remain a serious problem. For example, “more than 420,000 manufacturing workers were injured on the job in 2019, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, accounting for 15% of all nonfatal injuries in the private sector that year.”
What can be done to improve workplace safety? According to Thiel and Idzikowski, “[s]afety planning starts by imagining the unimaginable…it’s critical to play devil’s advocate and ask what could happen that shouldn’t, and how both the equipment and the operator will respond if it does.”
Once safety risks are identified, workers must be trained to recognize situations in which particular care must be taken to avoid injury. Otherwise, “[w]hen safety is treated as an afterthought, it’s only a matter of time until a preventable accident happens.” Here are five specific red flags Thiel and Idzikowski belive workers must learn to recognize:
- Access: Workers must learn to recognize situations in which “[o]perators can access hazardous areas while the hazard is present. Systems that require hands-on operator involvement…have built-in risks…Making these systems safe may mean containing the hazard behind guards or designing the machine so it won’t run until the operator is clear. Whether the danger is readily apparent, like moving parts, or invisible, like electrical current, the best safeguards make it impossible for the operator to even get near.”
- Rules: Workers should be on high alert for situations in which “[p]eople are bypassing the rules.Safety depends on people choosing to follow the rules…Even well-trained people can be lulled into a false sense of security and start taking shortcuts to make work faster or easier…If people are looking for ways around a safety system, it’s probably not well aligned with the operation. Rather than disabling the mechanism or retraining the operators, analyze the entire system and find a way to marry safety with the way the process really works.”
- Alarms: Workers need to notify management when “[a]larm systems don’t distinguish between emergencies and non-emergencies…if the system treats everything like an emergency, workers will treat nothing like an emergency. Frequent false alarms will lead workers to ignore the warning signs or circumvent them.”
- Obsolete: Workers must learn to keep an eye out for “[s]afety features [that] are outdated.A test of older fail-safes may find they no longer work — if they ever did in the first place…Maintaining a safe work environment means ongoing risk assessment. Safety professionals should perform regular audits of the equipment on the shop floor and keep an eye out for advancements that could make it safer.”
- Routine: Workers should alert management when they notice that “[s]afety features are not regularly tested and validated…the systems that keep workers safe should be checked on a regular basis.”
If workers can learn to recognize these five red flags, safety will become a higher priority and everyone in the workplace will benefit. As Thiel and Idzikowski acknowledge, “[t]he return on investment in safety is hard to measure. If a company invests millions in safety upgrades and there are no near-misses, was it a waste of money or did the upgrades do their job? A better question is what might realistically happen without safety upgrades.”
Safety Training: Begin with the Basics
Basic safety procedures are essential to keeping employees from becoming injured on the job. While manufacturing jobs can be dangerous, instituting safety procedures and ensuring that employees are properly trained are critical steps that employers must take to minimize the risk of injuries or death.
Not only does proper safety training reduce the number of workplace injuries, but it also adds to a company’s bottom line by improving productivity and reducing downtime caused by employees who can’t work when injured. But where should an employer start? How about at the beginning?
One of the most basic—and important—areas to focus on is the control of hazardous energy, often known by its more popular moniker “lockout/tagout.” According to the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), “[e]nergy sources including electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal, or other sources in machines and equipment can be hazardous to workers. During the servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment, the unexpected startup or release of stored energy can result in serious injury or death to workers.”
“Workers servicing or maintaining machines or equipment may be seriously injured or killed if hazardous energy is not properly controlled…Injuries may include electrocution, burns, crushing, cutting, lacerating, amputating, or fracturing body parts… Craft workers, electricians, machine operators, and laborers are among the millions of workers who service equipment routinely and face the greatest risk of injury.”
Fortunately, “[p]roper lockout/tagout (LOTO) practices and procedures safeguard workers from hazardous energy releases.” Teaching workers hands-on LOTO skills will help them to understand how to properly control hazardous energy and maintain a safe work environment.
DAC Worldwide Offers Superior LOTO Training
For companies looking to improve their safety training, a thorough review of current training materials is a great place to start. Do employees have access to hands-on training with actual components they’ll encounter on the job? If not, partnering with established companies to provide industrial-quality training systems that will stand the test of time will help ensure the continued safety of the workforce.
Employers don’t need to recreate the wheel to move toward a skills-based approach to hiring. DAC Worldwide, an industry-leading manufacturer of technical assessment and training tools, offers a variety of solutions to the problems employers face.
For example, DAC Worldwide offers a safety training system specifically designed to give employees the hands-on experience they need to master lockout/tagout skills. DAC Worldwide’s Lock-Out/Tag-Out Training System (811-000) features a realistic, simulated working process environment that facilitates introductory training with hands-on activities related to the process of identifying and locking out sources of dangerous potential energy in an industrial setting.
Since technical training is most effective when learners can gain hands-on practice with industry-standard components they’ll encounter on the job, the Lock-Out/Tag-Out Training System features a wide variety of common, industrial-quality components to provide learners with a realistic training experience that will build skills that translate easily to the workplace.
For example, the Lock-Out/Tag-Out Training System features:
- two PVC process tanks with removable covers, vents, drains, and process connections;
- PVC process network with block valves, 3-way valves, figure-8 blinds, and descriptive valve tags;
- fractional HP magnetic drive centrifugal pump;
- drain collection and distribution tubing network with valved central collection manifold;
- electrical controls, with provision for lock-out, including primary service disconnect, motor starter switch, in-line GFI protector, and system plug connection; and
- a comprehensive lock-out/tag-out tool kit with color-coded locks, tags, multi-lock hasps, specialty electrical locking devices, valve locking devices of multiple designs, and a dedicated toolbox.
The Lock-Out/Tag-Out Training System’s courseware consists of a training manual and hands-on exercises. These can be used as part of either an instructor-led course or self-directed study. A final performance assessment exercise is also provided, allowing the system to be used in an alternate configuration for testing purposes.
Contact a consultant with DAC Worldwide today to learn more about how their technical training tools can help you build the assessment and training program your company needs. Using DAC Worldwide training and assessment tools, you can transition to a skills-based hiring approach and fill the skills gaps in your organization!
- Published in News
What is Process Technology and why is it so important right now?
Process technology employees in the United States are the highly skilled operators of oil refineries, and the positions they hold require distinct training. Process technicians are responsible for monitoring and maintaining the production processes in a facility. They monitor equipment, operation, and safety systems, and are occasionally involved in the installation and repairing of equipment, like pumps, compressors, and electric motors. Students pursuing a career in process technology can often expect a good salary, job advancement opportunities, and an interesting, sometimes challenging, role using technology in manufacturing.
What is going on in the oil production industry?
Despite slowing growth, US oil production is on track to reach and all-time high in 2023. Output is expected to expand at an average rate of 840,000 barrels a day next year, down from a prior forecast of 860,000, according to the Energy Information Administration.
A reduction in supply from the United States could exacerbate an already fraught situation, in the midst of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and subsequent sanctions and trade embargos. Previously the US was relied upon as a key ancillary producer, that can subsidize the global supply as demand increases. The US has an immediate need for properly trained Oil Industry professionals, in order to ramp up domestic oil production.
In an effort to attract the skilled workforce of the future, The American Petroleum Institute (API) announced a new initiative encouraging veterans and transitioning service members to apply their skills in the oil and gas industry. Per worldoil.com; ‘participants obtain professional credentialing through API’s Individual Certification Programs (ICP).’ API plans to develop additional programs and tools to help transitioning service members and veterans. More information can be found here.
A great deal of workers left the Oil industry following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, there are still roughly 100,000 fewer oil and gas workers now in the country than before the pandemic despite the U.S. unemployment rate has falling to 3.6%, slightly above the pre-pandemic low. Companies such as Patterson-UTI raised wages last year because of competition from retailers that historically paid less than the oil industry.
Rystad forecasts that U.S. oil and gas employment is expected to recover this year (2022), and surpass pre-pandemic figures to an oilfield workforce of almost 1.1 million by the end of 2027. By the end of this year, U.S. oil and gas employment is expected to expand 12.5% to almost 971,000.
Specialized workers are key to restoring the workforce needed to ramp up production. DAC Worldwide’s process control and instrumentation products provide hands-on training for multiple tasks including those associated with flow, level, and temperature controlled processes.
DAC Worldwide’s Vertical Separator Trainer (295-101) is a reduced-scale, three-phrase vertical separator that mimics its real-world counterpart by using alternate production stream components, refined oil, air, and water.
https://dacworldwide.com/product/vertical-separator-trainer/
DAC Worldwide’s Vertical Separator Training System Plus (295-101-PAC) is a realistic working demonstration separation system duplicates the process at a reduced scale using alternate production stream components: refined oil, air, and water. Three-phase separators, both vertical and horizontal, perform a fundamental purpose in oilfield production operations. Using very basic physical principles of gravity separation, the device efficiently separates mixed raw oil and gas production streams into their component parts: crude oil, gas, and water.
https://dacworldwide.com/product/vertical-separator-training-plus/
More Oil and Gas training solutions from DAC can be found here.
- Published in News
Fundamental Electrical Skills Training: Powering the Path to Success
No matter their experience, skill level, or desired specialty, all individuals aspiring to become electrical professionals need the same fundamental electrical skills. These include understanding the basic principles of electricity and working with common electrical components, such as wiring, motors, and circuits. By mastering core skills like these, learners can help ensure they work safely and efficiently in whatever specified path they choose, whether that is industrial, commercial, or residential electrical careers.
As with any discipline, learning fundamental skills establishes a foundation from which a learner can build more complex concepts and skills. An electrician who now wires entire buildings for manufacturing processes was once a student learning about electric current. Furthermore, that same electrician could choose to expand their skills into more advanced or niche areas, such as performing industrial maintenance for the robotic arms they run power to, which would require that they rely on their understanding of basic PLC operation to progress to the complex coding needed to ensure manufacturing level precision.
Additionally, an electrical technician’s understanding of basic concepts and their abilities helps build confidence that translates to efficiency. For example, an HVAC technician is able to quickly restore air conditioning to a home because they understand how the circuit board, fan motor, compressor, and other components work both individually and together to create a working system. However, if the technician did not have a knowledge of wiring practices, the job would move much more slowly and, if done wrong, could even be dangerous.
In the same vein, industrial workers that know the do’s and don’ts of electrical practices can help recognize and prevent risky electrical setups. This makes a workplace safer for everyone and can help a company avoid downtime. In essence, fundamental electrical skills help prepare future technicians of many career paths to handle any job they will face in the field and provide the first step in pursuing a successful career in the electrical field.
DAC Worldwide’s Electrical Training Systems
DAC Worldwide offers many training systems that teach learners the fundamental electrical skills they need for a successful career. Each trainer is compact and sturdy, allowing for ease of relocation and longevity of use. By using these systems, learners will practice crucial hands-on skills related to focused electrical topics. Below, we’ve included a sampling of our most popular electrical trainers.
400-PAC – Modular Basic Electricity Training System Plus
The 400-PAC covers basic AC and DC electrical principles, including installation, operation, and troubleshooting for multiple applications. Learners can expect to gain a greater understanding of how electricity is used for power and control in industrial, commercial, and residential settings.
This trainer uses 43 activities to engage learners in lessons covering topics such as terminology, background theory, component examination and testing, circuit design, and more. A built-in circuit breaker, transformer, and internal power supply create working voltages of 24VAC/24VDC. This allows learners to gain hands-on experience with skills like calculating and regulating voltage in a circuit, operating a clipper circuit and full-wave bridge rectifier, loading dry cells, utilizing indicator lamps and toggle switches, and much more.
420-000 – 1-Phase Motor Control Training System with Manual Starter
The 420-000 is a single-topic trainer that allows learners to focus solely on navigating the operation, wiring, troubleshooting, and application of an industrial single-phase AC motor with a manual starter. With redundant safety systems provided and a keyed instructor power switch, learners can safely study individually or in small groups.
The system also comes equipped with a motor, manual motor starter, circuit breaker, electrical interlock, pilot light, e-stop switch, and four instructor fault switches. Learners use shielded banana-jack connections to wire the motor. While self-contained, the trainer may be expanded with supplemental components, such as a piloting switch module and a motor loading device, to teach additional topics.
422-000 – 3-Phase Motor Control Training System with Manual Starter
Like the 420-000, the 422-000 is a self-contained, single-topic trainer that allows for independent or small group study. Multiple components, such as a keyed instructor power switch, permanent internal grounding, circuit breaker with lock-out/tag-out, and a large emergency stop switch, ensure learner safety. All equipped components are UL and CE certified.
This trainer offers 21 activities for learners to practice hands-on skills for operating, wiring, and troubleshooting an industrial three-phase AC motor with a manual starter. Some examples of these skills include wiring a three-pole pushbutton motor starter as a motor controller and employing the instructor fault switches to troubleshoot a drum-type reversing switch manual starter.
429E – AC Variable Frequency Drive Training System Plus
The 429E uses industrial-grade components, such as an industrial 3-phase motor and an Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 40 variable frequency drive, to teach AC drive programming, system troubleshooting, control wiring, and other industry-relevant skills. Various inputs and outputs and a programmable acceleration/deceleration with an on-board PID control loop allow learners further practice in understanding voltage, relay, resistance, and amperage.
Other course content includes topics like minimum and maximum frequency, jog parameters, skip frequency bandwidth, and checking and setting acceleration and deceleration timing. Eight fault insertion switches provide thorough real-time troubleshooting practice.
461-000 – Basic PLC Training System (AB Micro850)
The 461-000 provides a wealth of information for learners to develop a firm understanding of industrial PLCs, with emphasis on the current generation Allen-Bradley Micro850. This trainer features eight DC input switches, eight DC output LED lights, two 25-pin D-Sub input/output connectors, multiple safety components, and more. Eight fault insertion switches are also built into the system to help learners increase their proficiency with PLC troubleshooting.
An optional textbook offers more study for relevant topics, such as introducing Boolean algebra and Veitch diagrams, understanding logic gates, creating subroutines and sequencers, and much more. The trainer can also be expanded by connecting it to other training systems that teach process control, sensors, motor control, fluid power, and more.
Boost Your Electrical Training Program Today
We aim to make training more memorable and effective so future electrical technicians can thrive in their chosen career paths. For more information on which training aide may best fit your needs, contact a DAC Worldwide consultant today.
- Published in News
Focused Assessment Key to Finding Workers with the Right Skills
Click HERE to view Focused Assessment Key to Finding Workers with the Right Skills as a multimedia presentation.
“Now Hiring!”
These days, it seems like it doesn’t matter what type of business you’re in. If your business is open, then it probably has one of these signs in the window.
As industries across every sector continue to navigate the ups and downs of an uneven economic recovery in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, hiring managers are struggling to fill open positions.
Whether you’re an employer looking to fill critical roles or an instructor trying to prepare your students for available jobs, it’s important to understand that now, more than ever, workers need the right skills to be successful in the modern industrial workplace.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the issues employers face trying to find workers with the right skills. We’ll also explain the importance of focused assessment and how the training tools offered by DAC Worldwide can help employers and instructors assess and train workers for the jobs of today and tomorrow.
Why are there so many Open Manufacturing Jobs?
The COVID-19 pandemic took a heavy toll on manufacturers. Combining fluctuating demand with quarantining workers and vast supply chain disruptions, many manufacturers struggled to weather the many storms they faced.
Now that we’re in an extended period of uncertain recovery, things should be slowly getting better. After all, unemployed people do need jobs, right? Instead, manufacturers seem to be falling farther behind.
According to an article by Alexandra Johnson:
“The US manufacturing industry is forecast to grow 7% in 2021, yet with this anticipated growth, the industry is struggling to hire enough workers to meet demand. Before COVID, the situation was bad, but post-pandemic it has become even worse. Despite lockdown lifting, the industry is reporting over 515,000 jobs need filling, just to meet demand.”
Why are so many manufacturers having such a hard time filling their many open positions? Experts believe that a big part of the problem is that too many workers simply don’t possess the skills employers need.
Today’s manufacturing workplace isn’t the dirty, boring, repetitive assembly line some people erroneously imagine. Modern facilities feature cutting-edge technologies that require specialized skills that not enough workers seem to have these days.
How can Manufacturers find Workers with the Right Skills?
With so many open positions to fill, it might seem like manufacturers should simply hire anyone they can get their hands on and then train them to do the jobs they need done. This approach, however, isn’t advisable for a variety of reasons.
Primarily, manufacturers who are already struggling with a whole host of issues don’t have the bandwidth to babysit new workers while they acquire the training they need. Many manufacturers also don’t have either the personnel or the tools to effectively train new workers.
In an article in the Harvard Business Review, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky advocates for a new skills-based approach to hiring. Roslansky argues that a skills-based approach “is the future of hiring and development…At a time when talent is the number-one commodity in business, companies can’t afford to remain stuck in old mindsets.”
Roslansky urges employers to “[f]ocus on the results you’d like to see, rather than the type of qualifications that you think could deliver them. Highlighting the desired skills — the candidate’s ability to perform certain tasks — gets to the same results without creating an unnecessary barrier to entry, like a requirement for a four-year degree.”
In an article by Adina Miron, the author agrees:
“Skills-based hiring enables employers to hire for the skills gaps that exist within their organization. Rather than focusing on experience, education, or certifications, companies should focus on identifying candidates with the needed skills to fill open positions.”
Roslansky echoes these thoughts:
“Shifting to a skills-focused approach is a viable solution to an evolving workforce dilemma…Stay focused on skills — and the assessments that can measure them…there are plenty of ways to gauge a candidate’s ability to perform without relying on their education or experience as proxies.”
A Skills-Based Hiring Approach Requires Proper Assessment & Training Tools
The nature of manufacturing makes generalized assessments and comprehensive training systems difficult to use in the context of hiring new workers. Why? The answer can be found in the concept of specialization of labor.
According to an article by Sampson Quain:
“Specialization of labor…refers to a process in business in which large tasks are divided into smaller tasks, and different employees or different groups of employees complete those tasks. Specialization is highly desirable in large-scale operations such as…manufacturing because it allows workers with specific skill sets to efficiently perform a specific task.”
For example, a manufacturer may need to hire someone with a specific skillset related to the operation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair of mechanical belt drives. A prospective candidate might claim to have general mechanical knowledge and skills, but how can the employer know whether the worker has the specific belt drive skills it needs?
To effectively use a skills-based hiring approach in manufacturing, employers need focused assessment and training tools that can be used to adequately determine a potential worker’s skills in a very specific area.
DAC Worldwide Offers Focused Assessment & Training Tools
Employers don’t need to recreate the wheel to move toward a skills-based approach to hiring. DAC Worldwide, an industry-leading manufacturer of technical assessment and training tools, offers a variety of solutions to the problems employers face.
In this section, we’ll take a closer look at several of DAC Worldwide’s focused assessment and training tools that employers can use to effectively and efficiently ensure that they’re hiring workers with the skills they need.
Belt Drive Training System (Model: 201-000)
The Belt Drive Training System allows for convenient assessment and training in the identification, installation, tensioning, and alignment of common belt drives types found in industry. Featuring hardware for applications related to multiple matched belts, fractional horsepower belts, positive drive belts, and variable pitch sheaves, the system provides a variety of training and assessment applications in one benchtop piece of equipment.
Coupling/Shaft Alignment Trainer (Model: 208-000)
The Coupling/Shaft Alignment Trainer allows for realistic training and assessment in shaft alignment. Designed based on the dimensions of a common ANSI centrifugal pump, this trainer can assess and train workers on all common alignment techniques and tools. Training and assessment topics include using a dial indicator in coupling/shaft alignment, the reverse dial indicator method, fabrication of shaft keys, and installing a flexible disc coupling.
Chain Drive Training System (Model: 223-000)
The Chain Drive Training System allows for in-depth assessment and training in industrial chain drives, heavy/silent chains, and sprocket set usage. Using industry-standard components workers will encounter on the job, this training system provides a complete training and assessment experience covering topics such as taper lock bushings, chain drive maintenance, installation/alignment of chains, and tensioning of chains.
Let DAC Worldwide Help You Fill Your Skills Gaps
The mechanical assessment and training tools highlighted above are just a few examples of the variety of technical training tools DAC Worldwide manufactures. In addition to training systems, DAC Worldwide also offers a wide range of industrial cutaways, detailed scale models, and sample boards featuring industrial components.
Contact a consultant with DAC Worldwide today to learn more about how their technical training tools can help you build the assessment and training program your company needs. Using DAC Worldwide training and assessment tools, you can transition to a skills-based hiring approach and fill the skills gaps in your organization!
- Published in News
Pump It Up! A Primer on the Importance of Pump Maintenance
When you hear the phrase, “pump the jam” your mind could be drawn – if you are of a certain age – to Technotronic’s 1989 club hit “Pump Up the Jam.” But you could also be a machine operator in a jam factory where pumps are used in the production process and must be routinely maintained due to jam viscosity, seeds and fruit chunks, and the sugary buildup on seal faces in sealed pumps.
In addition to jam factories, pumps are used across industry for water movement, chemical processing, and fluid management, as well as for moving harsh, corrosive, or heavy-duty substances. These fundamental components are utilized in agriculture, food and beverage, mining, petroleum, power generation, and pharmaceutical applications to move everything from wastewater to petroleum, sludges to slurries, dairy products to wine, and on and on. Pumps come in an assortment of types and configurations and industry uses a variety of them, such as turbine, piston, and gear pumps.
The most widely used pump across industry is the centrifugal pump, which is a dynamic pump, meaning it adds kinetic energy to the substance that increases the fluid speed and creates pressure. As expected with any kind of mechanical component subjected to constant pressure and operation, wear and tear of pumps is inevitable. However, with a solid understanding of the most common problems occurring from prolonged pump operation and a routine maintenance plan, full scale pump failure and costly production shut downs can be avoided. The most prominent problem with pumps that routine maintenance can prevent is cavitation.
What is Cavitation?
In relation to pumps, cavitation is the phenomena where vacuum bubbles form within fluid being moved through a system. When these bubbles – or voids – collapse they create shockwaves. Over time and repeated use, these shockwaves create premature wear on a pump impeller and lead to component failure if no maintenance is performed. Not only does cavitation lead to component failure, but when present it is extremely noisy and causes vibrations, which results in a loss of process efficiency.
In addition to cavitation, common things that technicians should watch for on industrial pumps include bearing and lubricant condition, shaft seal condition, pump vibration, and pump discharge pressure.
What Pump Maintenance Tasks Can Prevent Cavitation and Pump Failure?
As with any machine, consistent maintenance is key to process efficiency and prevention of equipment failure. In pumps, maintenance can extent equipment life, decrease operating and costs, and prevent specific component ills like cavitation. Generally, it’s recommended to group your maintenance program into three categories: routine, quarterly, and annual. Examples of tasks to track and check include adding oil to the bearing reservoir, cleaning and oiling governor linkages and valve stems, and inspecting disc couplings.
But how can you ensure that maintenance technicians and operators at your facility have the know-how to perform these tasks correctly?
DAC Worldwide’s Pump Maintenance and Operation Training Systems
DAC Worldwide offers an array of options for up-skilling or assessing your employees for pump maintenance and operation, including:
Centrifugal Pump Fundamentals Training System Plus (227-PAC)
The Centrifugal Pump Fundamentals Training System Plus (277-PAC) offers hands-on training for basic centrifugal pump operation and maintenance. This system can be used to demonstrate pump cavitation, fundamental operational principles, and the effects on flow and pressure by varying static head and piping configuration. The Centrifugal Pump Fundamentals Training System is a perfect solution for introductory operations and maintenance courses related to centrifugal pumps and process systems.
This system features a centrifugal pump with an open impeller, a variable speed DC pump motor with a controller, and a modular, clear PVC piping system with a variable-height support structure that allows for multiple configurations of the tank, pump, and motor to create new flow and static head conditions. The system also offers optional pipe spool variations to create even more process flow conditions.
Pump Maintenance Training System Plus (275-PAC)
DAC Worldwide’s Pump Maintenance Training System Plus (275-PAC) is a benchtop training device featuring a standard ANSI centrifugal pump mounted on a heavy-duty, 7-gauge, formed-steel, powder-coated baseplate. This systems features real-world pump components for practicing the disassembly, packing, and reassembly of common centrifugal pumps, as well as common pump maintenance such as impeller clearance adjustment and mechanical seal replacement. This system also features a clear acrylic backhead for visibility of the seal area.
Pump Maintenance and Alignment Training System Plus (275E-PAC)
The Pump Maintenance and Alignment Training System Plus (275E-PAC) is a benchtop training system featuring a standard ANSI centrifugal pump and a simulated motor element. This combination along with a replaceable ¾-in. diameter steel shaft with keyways allows users to practice shaft alignment skills. Further, the motor element features flanged bearings that can be adjusted to allow for angular and parallel misalignment. This system also allows users to practice complete pump tear-down and assembly. The Pump Maintenance and Alignment Training System also features a clear acrylic backhead to show pump packing procedures and the installation of mechanical seals.
Additionally, DAC Worldwide has dissectibles, component cutaways, and sample boards for expanded industrial pump training. DAC’s sister company, Amatrol, also offers pump systems that can bolster your industrial training program.
Amatrol’s Centrifugal Pump Learning System (950-PM1) and Expansion Systems
Amatrol’s pumps learning systems cover industry-relevant skills including how to operate, install, maintain, troubleshoot, and select a variety of pumps, as well as system design. The base learning system features a centrifugal pump, but allows for the use of several different pumps for expanded training; these pumps include: parallel pumps, turbine pump, diaphragm pump, peristaltic pump, piston pump, gear pump, magnetic pump, and centrifugal pump with stuffing box.
- Published in News
DAC Worldwide’s 4-Variable Process Control System: The Ultimate Instrumentation Training Tool
Let’s say on the way to pick up you prescription at the drug store, you stop at the gas station, fill up your tank, and pick up a cold soda pop. By the time you get home, you’ve interacted with at least three products that use process control and instrumentation in their creation. Oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, and food and beverage are only three of the countless number of industries that rely on process control and instrumentation to produce their goods.
What is process control and instrumentation?
According to the Process Industry Informer’s Phil Black, “Process control is used in continuous production – in manufacturing and in other fields and industries where some kind of material is produced without any kind of interruption – as well as in ‘batch processing.’ It’s used to automatically control the conditions in which a product is made – ensuring better quality and efficiency.”
And the applications of these processes are only getting started. According to Amatrol’s Duane Bolin, “Process control is big business all over the world. The global economic value of the process control systems market is estimated to be more than $120 billion. This value will only continue to grow as automation and Industry 4.0 technologies enable process control systems to further increase the productivity and efficiency of manufacturing facilities.”
Why is process control important?
Much like its applications, the importance of process control is nearly limitless in industry, but here are three major reasons:
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Improved Process Efficiencies
Process control allows for improved process efficiencies because the data produced by sensors can be analyzed resulting in more effective decisions.
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Limited Staff
Because processes can be automated, a small staff of operators can control the most complex processes from a central location.
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Ensures Safety
Manipulating substances to produce a product is a very demanding and potentially hazardous process. The controlled environments and components within process control limit danger to operators.
How do I set up process control training for our school or industry training center?
So you have a workforce or classroom full of people that need to be upskilled on process control and instrumentation practices. Where do you begin? Technical training innovators like Amatrol, DAC Worldwide, Bayport, and Pignat offer a variety of concentrated, single-topic options for process control training like Amatrol’s Temperature (T5553) or Pressure (T5555) systems, DAC Worldwide’s Calibration Training (616-000) system, Bayport’s Flow Level Trainer (120-CFLCD), or Pignat’s Gas-Liquid Absorption (ABS/2000) system. However, there is one system that not only offers hands-on skill building across all forms of instrumentation training, but is also customizable to an almost limitless degree to exactly meet your training needs:
DAC Worldwide’s 4-Variable Advanced Process Control Training System (603-000)
DAC Worldwide’s 4-Variable Advanced Process Control Training System (603-000) allows candidates to build hands-on skills in flow, level, pressure, and temperature process control applications. This system features an open physical architecture and wiring design, which allows for incredible adaptability and customization. This system can be configured to meet almost any process control training need or industry application and allows you to modify it as needs or technology changes.
The large size of the system and more complex measurement and control environment enables for PLC and DCS control systems, which means it can be set up for one large complex loop or two individual loops. This system can also feature Hart, Foundation Fieldbus, and Profibus communication systems.
The DACW 4-Variable Advanced Process Control Training System can be used for everything from interpreting PNID drawings, to teaching system walkdowns and PID control methodology, to the creation and maintenance of instrument loops, as well as large-scale system troubleshooting. This instrumentation training system includes a dynamic and complex piping system with a PID on each side, which allows for experiments in true cascade control – a topic that is uniquely covered by the 603-000 in the technical training industry.
There are also instrumentation packages – including Endress Hauser, Rosemount, & Honeywell – available to fully meet the training needs that most closely resemble the equipment you’ll see in your company or local industry.
Even More Process Control Option from DAC Worldwide!
If 4-Variable Advanced Process Control Training System is a bit more than what your training program needs, DAC Worldwide offers a full line of process control and instrumentation options. Some of these include single-topic options such as Analytic Process Control (605-000), Temperature Process Control (602-PAC), and a PID Controller Trainer (608-000).
How Can DAC Worldwide Help Your Training Program?
With more than four decades of experience in industrial training, DAC Worldwide’s reach extends far beyond just electrical products. In fact, DAC Worldwide possesses knowledge and expertise in a wide range of technical topics, including Electronics, Fluid Power, Heat Transfer & Steam, HVAC, Machining & Measurement, Mechanical Drives, Oil Production, Process Control & Instrumentation, and Pumps, Compressors & Valves.
Our training aids range from training systems and sample boards, to models and dissectibles – with real-world, hands-on learning being the core of each product. For more information on how DAC Worldwide can enhance your industrial training program and provide you with the best training solutions available, please click here.
- Published in News
Staying Protected: Hands-On Transformer Training in Safe, Controlled Environment
To view a multimedia presentation of “Staying Protected: Hands-On Transformer Training in Safe, Controlled Environment”, please click here.
The life of a power line worker can be a precarious one. From maintaining interstate power grids to servicing transmission lines and towers, line workers are often tasked with jobs that aren’t for the faint of heart.
The profession is considered one of the most dangerous in America, with 35 fatalities in 2019 around the United States. The compensation for such an intimidating trade, though, is notable.
According to salary.com, the average lineman salary in the United States is $80,026, as of February 2021. The career offers very realistic expectations of making upwards of $100,000 annually before turning 25 for younger students.
Today, the career is becoming safer, thanks to developing safety technologies. There are Linemen Training Schools all over the United States and Canada, with many finding interest in the unique field of high-voltage electrical technology.
Despite the demands, it is critical for workers to be properly trained on the power that electricity holds, both physically and metaphorically. Due to its hazardous nature, becoming a lineman requires extensive technical knowledge and safety skills to help ensure worker safety.
In the past, teaching the ins and outs of transformers was primarily paper-based, with some programs even opting for full-voltage training. Most of the time, the “real” learning was done on-the-job.
But things have changed in the electrical technology field. Training future lineworkers no longer requires a book-only approach, or the dangers that come with full voltages. DAC Worldwide’s Transformer Connections Training System (413-000) is a utility worker training aid that provides learners with real-world, hands-on practice working with transformers.
What is the Transformer Connections Training System?
DAC Worldwide’s Transformer Connections Training System is the ideal training tool for any lineman training program. It replicates the on-site conditions and circumstances that a utility worker encounters when making common transformer connections in the field. It allows the student to learn with a “hands-on” approach in a comfortable and controlled classroom environment.
Gone are the days of full-voltage training and paper-based learning, as the training unit is internally fused and includes a recalibrated reduced-voltage meter to make training safe, efficient, and realistic. As students train on the system at 4100 VAC, for example, they will only be operating at 41 Volts. This allows them to see real line voltage without the potential of getting hurt.
Put together in a welded steel cabinet, the Transformer Connections Training System is wired for both single-phase and three-phase activities. It includes 14 transformer cans, which are wired with different configurations to allow for a variety of set-ups, as well as a panel-mounted voltmeter and a phase rotation meter. It requires a 208 VAC / 3-phase / 60Hz / 4-wire connection.
In addition to the hands-on approach, the Transformer Connections Training System includes a Student Training Manual with a variety of topics, like performing single-phase transformer connections, identifying 3-phase connections, and demonstrating how capacitors affect line voltage and current. Learners will also learn how to demonstrate parallel single-phase and 3-phase transformers, and other transformer-related topics and skills.
Other Transformer Training Products
In addition to the Transformer Connections Training System, DAC Worldwide also offers slightly different variation called the Transformer Wiring Training System (408-000). This training tool is ideal for future industrial electrical programs and electricians, as it covers a basic course on transformers. It can also be used in residential electrical programs, as the system also shows how to connect a residential service.
Like the 418-000, the Transformer Wiring trainer takes the safe approach in learning by using low-voltage outputs while simultaneously simulating high-voltages. It replicates the single-phase transformer connections, as well as both delta-wye 3-phase transformer connections. All of the transformers are the same, and build into the unit, with the middle representing six different generators.
Students will be able to demonstrate proper installation of ground connections, primary and secondary side connections, and parallel transformer connections. The system also includes eight built-in instructor fault switches, which simulate failure conditions and allow real-time assessment and troubleshooting for students.
In addition to training systems, DAC Worldwide also offers two Transformers cutaways: one depicting a single-phase transformer, with the other showcasing a three-phase. Cutaways are real-world industrial components that have been restored, cut away, and refinished using durable urethane coatings. Each of these industrial components has been professionally sectioned to expose each device’s primary components, with functionality completely retained.
The Single-Phase Transformer (273-912) highlights a common shell-type, single-phase transformer found in manufacturing facilities and refineries, among others. The Three-Phase Transformer Cutaway (273-915) features a common coaxially-wound, three-phase, delta-wye transformer found in various industrial and commercial applications.
How Can DAC Worldwide Help Your Training Program?
With more than four decades of experience in industrial training, DAC Worldwide’s reach extends far beyond just electrical products. In fact, DAC Worldwide possesses knowledge and expertise in a wide range of technical topics, including Electronics, Fluid Power, Heat Transfer & Steam, HVAC, Machining & Measurement, Mechanical Drives, Oil Production, Process Control & Instrumentation, and Pumps, Compressors & Valves.
Our training aids range from training systems and sample boards, to models and dissectibles – with real-world, hands-on learning being the core of each product. For more information on how DAC Worldwide can enhance your industrial training program and provide you with the best training solutions available, please click here.
- Published in News
Hands-On Training Essential for Nation’s Utility Workers
Click HERE to view Hands-On Training Essential for Nation’s Utility Workers as a multimedia presentation.
Do you ever daydream about going “off the grid”? For many, the thought of unplugging for an extended time away from life’s troubles sounds refreshing.
The reality underlying this common dream of escape is how thoroughly tied our lives are to the grid. What would our everyday routines be like without the utilities we so often take for granted?
We don’t give them much thought until Mother Nature intervenes with a foot of snow or an ice storm. When the lights go out, the Internet stops streaming, water freezes in the pipes, and furnaces quit heating, we think about nothing but our precious utilities until they return.
The unsung heroes in these situations are the nation’s frontline utility workers that must brave the elements to do their jobs in the worst circumstances. We wait anxiously and depend upon their expertise and dedication to restore our lives back to normal.
One day soon, though, we could find that wait lasting longer and longer. Why? Our nation’s utilities are facing an unprecedented — and worsening — shortage of workers with the skills necessary to keep the grid functional.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the looming shortage of utility workers across the country. We’ll also examine how one training center in Kansas is addressing the issue. Finally, we’ll discuss easy-to-use training options that any utility can use to provide safe, hands-on skills training to their frontline workers.
The Power & Utilities Skills Gap
Industries of all kinds across the nation are facing a critical shortage of skilled workers, and the power and utility industries are no exception. Demand for workers in these industries remains strong, but finding new workers to replace the many workers ready to retire is proving to be a substantial challenge.
In an Energy Central article, author Karen Marcus notes:
“As older workers retire, many utilities are finding it difficult to replace them, and to attract employees with the skills needed to advance a 21st century industry. According to T&D World, Airswift and Energy Jobline found in a survey of over 17,000 professionals that ‘48 percent of power professionals are concerned about an impending talent emergency, with 32 percent believing the crisis to have already hit the sector and 38 percent reporting that their company had been affected by skills shortages.’”
The shortage of skilled workers is real, and experts predict it’s only going to get worse in the future. According to Marcus:
“The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) Quadrennial Energy Review (QER) reports that, according to one study, the industry will ‘need 105,000 new workers in the smart grid and electric utility industry by 2030, but expects that only 25,000 existing industry personnel are interested in filling those positions.’ The remaining 80,000 employees in this supply-demand mismatch will need to be filled through recruiting and training. However, the industry is not expected to meet the forecasted need with its current recruitment and training rates.”
Obviously, something needs to change. As the DoE QER states, “Industry hiring managers often report that lack of candidate training, experience, or technical skills are major reasons why replacement personnel can be challenging to find.”
If the power and utilities skills gap is to be bridged, utility companies must find a way to effectively provide safe, hands-on training to equip current and future workers with the critical skills they need to fill frontline positions as quickly as possible. Fortunately, solutions are available, and in the next section we’ll examine an exemplary approach taken by an association of municipal utilities in Kansas.
A Training Pioneer
Nearly two decades ago, Kansas Municipal Utilities (KMU), an association of more than 100 public utilities across the state of Kansas, recognized a dire need to effectively train the next generation of field workers. The groundbreaking solution KMU pioneered was finally brought to life a few years ago in the form of a $3.2 million training center.
As author Rick Aguilar notes in a T&D World article, KMU’s 20,000-square-foot training facility was seen as “a way to short-circuit the learning curve so utilities could swiftly prepare new hires to work as effective front-line employees.”
KMU’s training center allows for safe year-round training. Not only does the facility feature dozens of wood poles, but it also boasts a variety of industrial-grade components to create the most realistic distribution system possible.
For utility workers, real-world, hands-on training is essential. As Aguilar notes in his article:
“Because safety is an integral part of all utility work, the new training center helps the students learn through hands-on instruction. While they can pick up on key knowledge through sitting in class and reading books, the real rubber meets the road when they are actively participating in hands-on learning.”
For example, KMU’s training center allows workers “to get hands-on training in a controlled environment…[that] mitigates some of the hazards inherent in utility work, and it allows the field workers to make mistakes in a safe environment.”
KMU has found that a combination of classroom work and hands-on training is the ideal training experience. “For example, if KMU offers a workshop on transformer theory and connections, then the linemen can get hands-on experience immediately after they receive classroom instruction to connect their learning to actual work.”
Training Solutions for Everyone
As Aguilar notes in his article, “[m]any of the members of KMU are small in scope, and as such, they don’t have the ability to provide a comprehensive training program or build a facility of their own.” That’s why the KMU training center is such an important and valuable resource for Kansas utilities.
Nevertheless, “every utility needs to have a safe, qualified workforce.” So what are utilities in other states without the benefit of a KMU training facility supposed to do? Fortunately, there are a variety of training solutions that offer any utility the ability to provide critical hands-on skills training.
For example, DAC Worldwide manufactures a variety of unique training systems and industrial component cutaways that teach the essential hands-on skills frontline utility workers need most. In this final section, we’ll learn more about how utilities can use these systems to meet their training needs.
Transformer Wiring Training System (408-000)
DAC Worldwide’s Transformer Wiring Training System (408-000) is a realistic training device that replicates the conditions and circumstances that a utility worker encounters when making common power transformer connections in the field. This convenient tabletop training system provides hands-on training without the danger of full-voltage field experience.
For example, a 208VAC, three-phase source is stepped down, creating a 41VAC, three-phase system. The training system includes two complete sets of three-phase transformers so that paralleling can be explored. Users will also get first-hand experience using banana jacks, ground/primary connections, and secondary connections using both three-phase and single-phase applications.
Learners will study topics like analyzing transformer single-phase/three-phase voltages, identifying transformer turns ratio (TTR), and demonstrating how connections can produce incorrect motor rotation. They will also practice hands-on skills, such as performing transformer connections, interconnecting multiple transformers in Wye or Delta configurations, and simulating a burned-out transformer in a three-phase bank.
Transformer Connections Training System (491-000)
DAC Worldwide’s Transformer Connections Training System (491-000) teaches the key skills that a utility worker must master in order to confidently operate modern generating equipment, such as the paralleling of generators and connecting to a larger power grid. The system replicates the conditions and circumstances utility workers encounter when making common transformer connections in the field.
For example, learners can practice ground connections, primary connections, and secondary connections easily using banana jacks. Both three-phase and single-phase applications are provided, and a 208 VAC, 3-phase source is stepped down to a 41 VAC, 3-phase system for safety.
Users will find that the Transformer Connections Training System provides a safe and efficient, yet realistic alternative to a full-voltage field experience. Standard accessories include patch cords, fourteen (14) transformers, a panel-mounted voltmeter and phase rotation meter.
Industrial Transformer Cutaways
DAC Worldwide’s Single-Phase Transformer Cutaway (273-912) and Three-Phase Transformer Cutaway (273-915) are detailed, professionally-crafted transformer cutaways that depict a shell-type, single-phase transformer and a coaxially-wound, three-phase, delta-wye wired transformer, respectively.
Through careful sectioning, the complete internal configurations of these transformers can be seen. Details shown include the laminated steel core, primary and secondary windings, and primary insulation.
Common transformer brands and models are chosen for sectioning for industrial relevance. Users will gain valuable insight into the inner workings of these transformers that they will encounter on a regular basis in the field.
- Published in News
New Marine Corps Doctrine Promotes Education & Training
Click here to view New Marine Corps Doctrine Promotes Education & Training as a multimedia presentation.
The few. The proud. Who are we talking about? The Marines, of course. That particular recruiting slogan has been permanently etched into our memories over the years.
And it’s a great slogan. The Marines are legendary for a training regimen that weeds out all but the strongest, creating a fighting force to be reckoned with. Indeed, the Marines have been on the front lines of every major U.S. military campaign of the modern era.
To be prepared for the future, however, the Marines know that training the same way they have in the past will not be sufficient. That’s why a recent doctrinal publication puts a new focus on education and continued learning.
Industry, always closely connected to the military, would do well to put a renewed emphasis on education and training, too. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how partnering with a trusted technical training company like DAC Worldwide can prepare your students, workers, soldiers, and sailors for a bright future.
A New Doctrine for a New Era
According to a Marine Corps Times article, “the Marine Corps unveiled the Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication 7 [MCDP 7] in February [2019] as the service aims to promote education, training, and continued learning among Marines so they become students of their profession.”
How significant was this doctrinal development? MCDP 7 was the first new doctrinal publication issued by the Marines since 2001. Its goal: “to motivate Marines to personally assess where they can improve and understand the ‘why’ behind the significance of learning.”
Maj. Gen. William Mullen was quoted as saying “that he’s heard Marines say they joined the service to escape an academic education. But the Corps wants its personnel to understand that the two complement one another and that education prepares Marines to think quickly when faced with challenges.”
According to Mullen, “You need both training and education. Training prepares you for things you know you’re going to have to do…But the education piece comes in when the unknown starts to happen, which it always does.” Mullen specifically referred to the fact that the environments Marines face today present challenges that are only growing more complex.
This new doctrinal change comes as “Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger is working to remake the Corps to better compete with potential high-end adversaries…Berger wants a leaner force to conduct sea denial operations, survive in a contested maritime environment and serve as a larger Naval expeditionary force.”
It’s Not Just the Marines
Speaking of the Navy, the Marine Corps Times article notes that the Navy announced in May 2019 “that it was modifying fitness reports to reflect an individual’s educational and training accomplishments, including military education courses, professional and academic certifications, among other things.”
Like the Marines’ new focus on education and continued learning, the Navy’s modified fitness reports are meant to “show that career-long military learning isn’t only job-related technical or tactical training, and that a commitment to higher education will produce Navy leaders with more refined critical thinking skills,” according to an article in the Navy Times.
Future Navy fitness reports will thus document educational performance, including “[m]ilitary educational courses, civilian institution coursework, and professional and academic certifications.” Navy leadership also indicated they will also encourage additional informal efforts, such as learning new technologies.
It’s All COOL
It’s no coincidence that the Marines and the Navy would emphasize professional and academic certifications. Much of the training that military personnel receive prepares them for future civilian jobs.
Obtaining professional and academic certifications while in the military can make it easier for personnel to transition to civilian life when their service is finished. All branches of the military recognize the importance of certifications in making that transition as easy as possible.
For example, the Marine Corps COOL site (Marine Corps Credentialing Opportunities On-Line) helps Marines see how their military training and experience matches up with civilian credential requirements. Such credentials could include important and valuable advanced manufacturing credentials from entities like the National Institute of Metalworking Skills (NIMS) and the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC).
Marines using the COOL site can see whether military funding is available to help attain particular credentials. They can also see how the training and skills they’ve already acquired might match up with specific credentials valued by employers, such as NIMS’ Industrial Technology Maintenance (ITM) certification or MSSC’s Certified Production Technician (CPT) certification. There are also COOL sites for the Army, Coast Guard, Navy, and Air Force.
Industry Must Also Evolve
Given the military’s new focus on education and continued learning, it’s important that industries that work with and support the military evolve in a similar fashion. The military-industrial complex consists of all sorts of industries that work closely with the military to help them accomplish their mission.
These industries should take a cue from their military counterparts and begin to develop a similar focus on education and continued learning among their workforce. Industry workers will only be able to continue to keep pace with their military counterparts if they’re also seeking new educational opportunities and learning new skills and technologies.
Pushing an industrial workforce or a military organization toward more education and greater skill development can be a daunting task. That’s why it’s imperative that both the military and their industrial counterparts seek out and rely upon the expertise of a trusted technical training partner.
A Trusted Education & Training Partner
DAC Worldwide is a US-based world leader in technical training solutions. For over 35 years, DAC Worldwide has been helping industrial employers and military organizations with realistic, hands-on training systems.
DAC Worldwide offers a wide range of product solutions to fit all your training needs. From training systems that teach a full range of skills to cutaways that increase understanding of how a component works, we have what you need.
For example, many military personnel work in the same skilled occupations as civilians. This means they need a solid foundation in various technologies, including electrical, electronics, fluid power, and mechanical drives.
Whether you train military personnel working on military bases or civilian crews with military contracts, DAC Worldwide’s military training solutions offer an unmatched range of products to allow you to create the course you need or to fill in any gaps that you have in your current training.
Let’s take a closer look at four specific DAC Worldwide products that can take your training program to the next level:
Lock-Out/Tag-Out Training System (811-000)
DAC Worldwide’s Lock-Out/Tag-Out Training System features a realistic, simulated working process environment that facilitates introductory training with hands-on activities related to the process of identifying and locking out sources of dangerous potential energy in an industrial setting. The training system includes two process tanks; a centrifugal pump; a complex, multi-purpose piping network; electrical controls; a variety of lockable system components; and a lock-out/tag-out kit that features a large number of commonly-encountered locking and tagging devices.
Basic Electricity Training System (400-PAC)
DAC Worldwide’s Basic Electricity Training System teaches basic AC and DC electrical principles. Learners will explore how electricity is used for power and control in various sectors. The trainer covers industry-relevant skills, such as installing, operating, and troubleshooting AC and DC electrical circuits in a variety of applications.
Piston Pump Cutaway (278-132)
DAC Worldwide’s Piston Pump Cutaway is an industrial piston pump that has been carefully sectioned and color-coded to train learners in the design, operation, construction, and maintenance of this common process pump used throughout industry. The cutaway exposes and showcases the complete internal configuration of an industrial piston pump. Moreover, seal features and bearings have been retained to allow realistic, hands-on pump maintenance and operation training.
Centrifugal Pump Cutaway (278-101)
DAC Worldwide’s Centrifugal Pump Cutaway is a sectioned centrifugal pump that provides realistic training in the operating principles, construction details, and maintenance of common centrifugal process pumps used throughout industry and the military. It includes various sectioned components, such as seals and bearings, as well as showcasing the pump’s impeller.
Contact DAC Worldwide Today
Is your organization ready to take its industrial technical training to the next level? Contact a DAC Worldwide expert today for a personal consultation regarding your training needs and how our variety of training systems, cutaways, dissectibles, and models can prepare both industrial workers and military personnel for the future challenges they face.
- Published in News
Building a Mechanical Drives Training Program | Amatrol & DAC Worldwide Offer Complementary Training Solutions
To read ‘Building a Mechanical Drives Training Program’ as a Multimedia presentation, please click here.
Essential workers come in all shapes and sizes.
Without properly functioning mechanical drives, robots wouldn’t be able to perform automated commands, conveyor belts would lay still, and machining centers would grind to a screeching halt. Machine breakdowns couldn’t be fixed without them.
Local industry needs more technicians with specific skillsets, including proficiency in working with mechanical drives. What’s needed are more in-depth programs that not only provide hands-on skills, but take learning beyond the classroom with full, interactive eLearning.
With traditional education facing unprecedented uncertainty, building a sought-after Mechanical Drives Training Program is becoming a high priority for high schools and colleges around the nation. And thanks to Amatrol and its new sister company, DAC Worldwide, constructing a dream Mechanical Drives Training Program is now easier than ever.
What Good Comes With Mechanical Training?
Frankly, mechanical drives are found in almost every aspect of life and countless industrial sectors, such as agriculture, pharmaceuticals, automotive, construction, power & energy, industrial maintenance, mining, and more.
Thanks to its worldwide use, mechanical maintenance technicians are highly sought after. Positions are available, with more on the way thanks to a large chunk of Baby Boomers approaching retirement age.
However the importance behind mechanical training can eventually be attributed to the impending Skills Gap, which has the potential of leaving millions of jobs unfilled due to a lack of qualified workers. Thanks to equipment that is becoming more technologically advanced by the day, few can perform routine maintenance that must be learned and practiced to gain proficiency.
Today, mechanical maintenance technicians are expected to possess a very specific, highly technical skillset. So in order to meet those expectations, current mechanical training should cover everything from bedrock fundamentals, all the way through advanced manufacturing applications.
In addition, the training should not be one-dimensional. While hands-on training allows students to take a more tangible approach to training, theoretical understanding of the topic brings the knowledge full circle. One without the other would be doing a disservice to not only the students, but any customers they may encounter on their professional journey.
How DAC Worldwide & Amatrol Can Legitimize Your Mechanical Drives Training
No matter how advanced your mechanical drives training may (or may not) be, Amatrol and DAC Worldwide can add the substance to take your program to the next level.
DAC Worldwide and Amatrol joined forces in 2019 after discovering that their training systems complemented each other to create an ever more robust training. As worldwide leaders in technical training, the goal of the “sister companies” was to provide even more technical training opportunities for schools and companies in need, especially in the field of mechanical drives.
However the real winners in the combining of these two technical training companies? The learners. While Amatrol and DAC Worldwide may be in the forefront of technical training, the approach taken by the two companies varies slightly.
What this means is even more opportunities for learners to strengthen their skills before entering the workforce. It also gives schools and training facilities more options when building their program, as Amatrol’s and DAC Worldwide’s products complement each other for a well-rounded classroom.
For example, Amatrol has unmatched eLearning curriculum, as well as unparalleled depth and breadth of coverage. The learning systems, which are available in both portable and full-size models, offer thorough, in-depth training that can be added on as training needs grow or change. A typical lesson will see students start with the basics, like identification and definition, before moving on to more challenging topics, like troubleshooting and implementation.
DAC Worldwide, on the other hand, creates training systems, models, cutaways, and sample boards of various mechanical drives. Each product is intended to train students on a specific set of technical topics. So if instructors have a particular skill they have identified as the most appropriate – like belt drive training (201-000) – a DACW training system will focus solely on that particular skill. Or for those that need a perfect tool for skill evaluation for pre-hire or annual skill testing, DAC Worldwide’s products would be the ideal solution. In turn, with its focused scope, these trainers could be a less expensive alternative to large-scale systems.
Amatrol and DAC Worldwide Mechanical Training Solutions
As mentioned, both Amatrol and DAC Worldwide provide mechanical training, but do so in slightly different, yet complementary, closely-aligned ways that further enhance training.
Amatrol built a platform that has a broad range of skills on its base levels, with the opportunity for expansion. By adding an optional system, users can create a system that is unmatched in its depth and breadth of training. Amatrol’s Mechanical Drives 1 Learning System (970-ME1) does it all in a compact system and also includes interactive eLearning.
DAC Worldwide, on the other hand, built individual systems that focus on more specific skill training. Users can easily expand the number of trainers used for more in-depth skill-building, or use the trainers as a tool for learners’ final assessment. It’s also ideal for adult training, if local industry wants their employees to have specific training, such as coupling alignment (206-000), without the need for belts, chains, and other components.
While both approaches lead to successful technical training, many of DAC Worldwide and Amatrol’s products work hand-in-hand for seamless integration into any Mechanical Drives program.
So if you’re looking for a way to expand (or begin) a Mechanical Drives Program, here are a few solutions on how to implement trainers from both DAC Worldwide and Amatrol:
Solution #1: Mechanical Drives Learning System | 970-ME1 (Amatrol)
The “crown jewel” of mechanical training products, Amatrol’s 970-ME1 covers countless industry-needed skills in one convenient system. The Mechanical Drives 1 Learning System covers alignment and operation of mechanical drives, and alignment and applications of various motor drive systems.
Accompanied with online mechanical drives curriculum to gain theoretical knowledge, this system also provides hands-on skill training for shaft, belt, gear, and chain drives using real-world motor drive components. Students will cover topics like mechanical drive systems, key fasteners, power transmission system, v-belt drives, and much more.
With the 970-ME1, Amatrol expertly mixes theoretical concepts immediately followed by hands-on practice to build the strongest possible retention and competency for learners. It includes Amatrol’s world-class eLearning curriculum, as well as expansion units to further training, such as:
- Mechanical Drives 2
- Mechanical Drives 3
- Mechanical Drives 4
- Laser Shaft Alignment*
- Vibration Analysis*
- Roller-Pack Machine Tool Axis
- Plain Bearing Machine Tool Axis
- Floor-Standing Belt Conveyor
- Machine Tool Chip Conveyor
- Predictive Maintenance Vibrations Analysis
* Also Available as Stand-Alone Training System
Solution #2: Single-Topic Trainers (DAC Worldwide)
Single-topic trainers focus on one core subject matter, making it useful for applications where there is a greater need for training on a specific topic. Not only can these DACW trainers extend your training lab to accommodate more students at a very low cost, but they can add to Amatrol’s 970-ME1 system.
Belt & Chain Drives
DACW’s Belt Drive Training System Plus (201-PAC) focuses on the identification, installation, tensioning, and alignment of common belt drives types found throughout industry. It includes flanged bearings, fractional horsepower belts and sheaves, multiple Type-A belt sets, sheave bushings, and more.
Available in: 201-000, 201-PAC
The Chain Drive Training System Plus (223-PAC) presents learners with industrial chain drives, heavy/silent chains, and sprocket set usage, providing a complete introduction to chain nomenclature, assembly, disassembly alignment, and maintenance.
Available in: 223-000, 223-PAC
Gear & Bearing Maintenance
DAC Worldwide’s Gear Maintenance Training System Plus (205-PAC) is the ideal training tool to learn how to install, align, troubleshoot, and repair a wide variety of gears, shafts, and bearings. Learners will be introduced to gear identification, installation, alignment, and troubleshooting.
Available in: 205-000, 205-PAC
The Advanced Bearing Maintenance Training System Plus (204E-PAC) allows for in-depth training in the identification, installation, and removal of various industrial-quality rolling element bearings. Using two workstations, students will study topics such as bearing identification systems, rolling element bearing construction, bearing maintenance pre-check, and more.
Available in: 204E-000, 204E-PAC
Coupling / Shaft Alignment
For convenient, realistic training in shaft alignment, look no further than DAC Worldwide’s Basic Coupling / Shaft Alignment Training System Plus (208D-PAC). The design is based on the configuration found in many vertical centrifugal pumps, and accommodates all types of alignment apparatus, including laser systems. Learners will perform four-point motor element jacking, master a dial indicator in coupling/shaft alignment, troubleshoot angular and parallel misalignments, and install a flexible disc coupling.
Available in: 208D-000, 208D-PAC
Brake Clutch
Using a completely motorized training package of brake and clutch-related hardware and control components, DACW’s Brake Clutch Training System (220-PACP) explores how brakes and clutches are used for training throughout various sectors. The trainers covers the installation, operation, and troubleshooting of brakes and clutches in a variety of applications.
Available in: 220-000, 220-PACP
Solution #3: Enhancement Trainers (DAC Worldwide)
In addition to single-topic trainers, DACW also offers Enhancement Trainers.
Basically, Enhancement training systems cover skills that are not currently included in Amatrol training systems, specifically the 970-ME1. These units have the same look and feel as single-topic trainers, but can extend the training capabilities of Amatrol mechanical learning systems.
Advanced Coupling / Shaft Alignment
DAC Worldwide’s 3-Component Coupling Shaft Alignment Training System Plus (206-PAC) is patterned after a typical turbine-driven pump or turbo-compressor. The system includes flanged bearings that allow changes in angular and parallel misalignment, motor attachment points with steel-threaded inserts, and replaceable shaft for easy installation of bent shafts.
Available in: 206-000, 206-PAC
With a design based on the configuration found in many vertical centrifugal pumps, DACW’s Vertical Coupling / Shaft Alignment Training System Plus (207-PAC) features industrial-grade components to perform a four-point motor element jacking, install a flexible disc coupling, and troubleshoot angular and parallel misalignments.
Available in: 207-000, 207-PAC
Fan Balancing
DAC Worldwide’s Fan Balancing Training System Plus (202-PAC) encourages learners to gain experience with fan balancing in an effort to achieve maximum fan efficiency and stability. Designed to look and perform like a typical squirrel cage fan, it comes with movable pillow block assemblies and can feature even or odd number blade configurations.
Available in: 202-000, 202-PAC
Vibration Analysis
Using DACW’s Vibration Analysis Training System Plus (203-PAC), students will be introduced to a versatile, precision-machined device that isolates individual, vibration-causing variables in order to demonstrate their individual signatures. Topics include effects of frequency/displacement, proper pick-up mounting, correcting vibrations caused by imbalance and misalignment, and more.
Available in: 203-000, 203-PAC
Advanced Bearing Maintenance
The Journal and Fluid-Film Bearing Training System Plus (204J-PAC) trains learners in the identification, installation, removal, and maintenance of a variety of Babbitt-type journal bearings found on high horsepower, high-speed rotating machines. Using two workstations, students practice common maintenance tasks, such a bluing check, dent repairs, and hand scraping.
Available in: 204J-000, 204J-PAC
Let Amatrol and DAC Worldwide Help You Build Your Ideal Mechanical Training Program
No matter what kind mechanical training you’re looking for, or what skills you’d like to focus on, the world-class training tools of Amatrol and DAC Worldwide should have you covered. With almost 80 combined years of technical training experience, no other company on the market can match us!
For more information on how to build your ideal mechanical training program, please click here.
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5 Skills Every HVAC Technician Should Possess
To view ‘5 Skills Every HVAC Technician Should Possess’ as a Multimedia Presentation, please click here.
While the national unemployment rate might be near all-time lows (3.5-percent in Dec. 2019), one industrial job is expected to grow by more than 46,000 jobs over the next decade: HVAC technicians.
Thanks to a push of commercial and residential building construction that is expected to drive employment growth and job opportunities, the employment outlook is expected to increase by 13-percent over the next 10 years. That is a sizable leap from the national average for all occupations, which sits at 5-percent over the next 10 years.
Not only are there currently enough jobs to go around, but a spike in upcoming retirements has some employers desperate for qualified talent. That’s good news for those interested in joining the HVAC field, as it places them firmly in the driver’s seat of finding an ideal professional match.
So with jobs aplenty, what skills are employers most focused on when hiring HVAC technicians? DAC Worldwide, a company with 40 years of experience working with industry and technical education, has compiled a list of the five most meaningful HVAC technician skills companies are in search of:
1. In-Depth Knowledge of HVAC Systems and Methods
Doctors know medicine. Car mechanics know cars. To be successful in a profession, employees must understand the craft inside and out.
HVAC technicians are no different. They are responsible for knowing about a wide range of HVAC systems, controls, and installation methods, and quite literally, need to know about everything from hot to cold.
Whether technicians are threading and installing gas piping, or laying out duct systems, a deep understanding of all things HVAC is critical. Not only should technicians have the hands-on skills to perform each task, but they should back that up with a strong theoretical knowledge of their subject.
One way to enhance the understanding of HVAC systems is by taking a deep dive into how each piece of equipment works along the process. DAC Worldwide, for example, produces full-size industrial component cutouts that allow learners to take a peek inside real HVAC equipment for the first time. Now, students can see inside the equipment they might be fixing firsthand, providing an unparalleled training tool.
Today’s HVAC systems can be assembled, disassembled, repaired, and programmed, so having a background of mechanical skills is a key component to building a successful technician career. (After all, the more technical knowledge that a technician has from the start, the faster they can learn new skills, an attribute companies consider to be highly valuable.)
2. Acute Troubleshooting and Problem-Solving Skills
The goal for every HVAC technician is the same – aim for safe, timely, and effective services every time. In order for that to happen, techs need to be quick-thinking workers, equipped with a collection of problem-solving techniques, and possess familiarity with the latest diagnostic and testing equipment.
In just one work day, technicians may face a wide variety of issues: one customer may have total system failure, while another is dealing with noise issues, or temperature balancing problems. Being able to quickly size-up the problem, identify solutions, and implement a resolution is the key to finding success as an HVAC technician.
Problem-solving is impossible without an acute attention to detail. So along with ingenuity, employers are also looking for workers that are detail-oriented. Not only should technicians be able to track the work they are completing, but they should also be aware of the intricacies of the equipment they are working on. Sometimes, not paying attention to the details could be costly – either to the equipment, or the technician’s safety. Effective troubleshooting is a combination of accepted troubleshooting procedures supported by a solid knowledge of how these systems work to perform their operations.
Thanks to using real-world components, DAC Worldwide’s HVAC cutaways take detailed training to another level. By providing a look inside authentic components found in HVAC systems worldwide, learners can truly understand the fine details of the equipment’s inner workings. To truly understand how a component can fail, technicians must first understand how it works.
3. Extensive Knowledge of Safety Standards and Protocols
A day in the life of an HVAC technician is not exactly a walk in the park.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, technicians have one of the highest rates of injuries and illnesses of all occupations. While most of these can be prevented by following safety protocols, it does have the potential to be a dangerous career.
So despite working heights, in confined spaces, or attached to scaffolding, having comprehensive knowledge of proper preventative safety standards can keep workers healthy and business moving. From hazardous tasks like lifting heavy objects to installing electric wires and controls, understanding personal protective equipment (PPE) and other safety codes could be the difference between technicians suffering an injury, or not.
On top of personal safety, HVAC technicians need to be well-versed in government regulations. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for example, requires that all technicians who work with refrigerants be certified in proper refrigeration handling. There are additional regulations on how to handle pressurized gases, refrigerants, and other toxic or hazardous materials, so knowing regulations surrounding proper and safe disposal will not only protect technicians from an accident or injury, but will also keep clients and the environment safe.
4. Soft Skills, Communication, and Flexibility
Whether it’s a personal relationship or professional contact, we’ve all heard about the importance of first impressions: You only get one, so make it count.
Having a clean, professional appearance, listening to the customer, and showing all-around common courtesy are essential skills that can make or break a first meeting. Out in the field, employees are the face of the company, so making a good first impression is crucial for success of the business.
Possessing natural Customer Service skills are equally as important to this career as the technical skills a technician has. Not only is it a tech’s job to explain repairs and answer questions in a non-technical way, but they need to make the clients feel comfortable, building trust and rapport. This might require a little patience too, as their issues might have been ongoing, and frustration may be mounting. But in the end, having the ability to calmly and professionally talk through all of the issues and potential solutions will put everyone at ease.
Finally, in the world of an HVAC technician, every day is a new adventure. No matter the season, HVAC technicians are expected to work, even in uncomfortable situations.
Sometimes it’s too hot because the air conditioning isn’t working – other times the heat is out, making work conditions frigid. Even in the dead of winter, technicians might have to work outdoors, fixing heat exchanges, for example. Taking ‘flexible’ in a much more literal sense, some units are located in tight spaces, forcing technicians’ bodies to bend and curve in positions they didn’t know it could.
Being flexible is just part of the game. In this line of work, “That’s not my job” doesn’t exist. Sometimes, just being able to make changes on a whim, and occasionally just rolling with the punches, are the most effective tools a technician needs in his or her arsenal.
5. Willingness to Continue HVAC Learning and Training
If smart devices have taught us anything, it proves how quickly (and drastic) technology can change over decades. From minor tweaks to major overhauls, each update includes newer options and faster speeds.
The HVAC industry is no different. While it may not move with the veracity of cell phone technology, tools and equipment are being continuously adjusted to run more efficiently.
Today, there is also a continued push for greater energy efficiency, which includes phasing out hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) in favor of Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerants, and a rise of “zero emission building plans” and other green building standards. Soon, the HVAC industry will see an increase of variable speed technologies, which will improve electrical efficiency, air quality, and humidity control.
Without continued re-training within the field, technicians run the risk of encountering a component they can’t fix. So by having the willingness to continually hone their skills will not only be beneficial to their future professional success, but will also ensure timely, safe repairs and installations for all parties involved.
- Published in News
Bridging the Oil and Gas Skills Gap: Effective Technical Training for Current and Future Employees
Click HERE to view Bridging the Oil and Gas Skills Gap: Effective Technical Training for Current and Future Employees as a multimedia presentation.
What does 2020 and the coming years hold for industries around the globe? That’s the question on the minds of many executives as they embark on a new year and a new decade. For the oil and gas industry, a skills gap will continue to create problems for employers looking to seize new opportunities for increased efficiency and profitability. Effective technical training for current and future employees will be a key strategy necessary to solve this problem.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what 2020 holds for the oil and gas industry, including the reasons behind and current state of the skills gap in the industry. We’ll consider how companies are using training programs to upskill current workers and ensure future workers have the skills they need. Finally, we’ll look at how DAC Worldwide’s unique oil and gas training tools can help employers and educators to bridge the skills gap facing the oil and gas industry.
2020: Opportunities and Challenges
The oil and gas industry has rebounded from the economic downturn experienced several years ago. According to Deloitte’s 2020 Oil, Gas, and Chemical Industry Outlook, there are several reasons for optimism in the new year: “Liquid natural gas (LNG) keeps growing…[f]ossil fuel consumption is expected to continue to grow…[and] [g]lobal…oil supply remains secure thanks to growing US production and healthy stocks.”
The Deloitte report concludes that oil and gas executives need to be “ready to embrace new opportunities for profitable growth…Thanks to the lessons learned from the most recent boom and bust cycle, the industry is better equipped to face the future than it has been at any other point in the past decade. Still, there are fundamental, long-term challenges that they will have to face.”
The 2019 Global Energy Talent Index (GETI) Report agrees, noting that “[t]he oil price has rebounded and new projects are on the rise. The challenge now for the sector is to ensure that the talent supply can keep up with demand.” Why? Quite simply, “[m]aintaining a pipeline of new talent has become a challenge for oil and gas companies.”
The Oil and Gas Skills Gap
A recent Energy Sourcing article notes that, in the coming decade, the “U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects 54.8 million total job openings [in the oil and gas industry],” but there are “not enough skilled people to fill them.” What is behind this skills gap? Experts point to a variety of factors that have contributed to the growing shortage of skilled talent in the oil and gas industry.
Too Few Millennials, Too Many Boomers
According to the 2019 GETI Report, “the impact of economic cycles on job stability is a leading cause of the skills shortage.” During the recent economic downturn, jobs were cut and recruitment efforts were severely curtailed. The result has been the slowing of “[t]he influx of young talent into the sector,” leading to the present “talent crunch.”
Now that the industry is back on the upswing, employers are trying once again to attract young talent, but they’re finding it’s not as easy as it used to be. As a recent Airswift article notes, oil and gas employers are learning a hard lesson: “The skills gap is a problem that money alone can’t solve.”
Not only is oil and gas “the number-one industry millennials wished to avoid working in because of its image,” but competition for young, skilled talent is fierce because the skills gap affects nearly every industry around the world.
Adding to the problem of the short supply of young talent is the fact that “[o]lder workers from the Baby Boomer generation are beginning to reach retirement age, ultimately heading off and taking decades of knowledge and experience with them.” Who will replace them?
Industry 4.0 Changes
Whoever does replace retiring workers will have to possess a stronger technical skillset than ever before. In addition to skills specific to the oil and gas industry, they will need advanced technological skills that will enable them to succeed as the industry experiences the dramatic changes characteristic of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, otherwise known as Industry 4.0.
Industries across the board and around the world are being impacted greatly by Industry 4.0’s technological advances. Oil and gas is no exception. As the Airswift article notes, “oil and gas companies are collecting more and more digital data which is helping to improve worker safety, monitor reservoir behaviour, plan ahead for smoother digs, maintain hardware and much more.”
They’re also incorporating new technologies, such as drones. According to the Oil and Gas Drone Services Market – Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2019-2024), the market for drone services in the oil and gas industry is expected to grow by more than 60% in the next five years.
As a Business Wire article summarizing the drone forecast notes, “[d]rones are being used for inspection to determine any damage or corrosion and to provide data for structural integrity and visual and infrared photography,” as well as for “pipeline inspection, corrosion checks, security checks, and maintenance issues.”
Positions Aplenty
In addition to new positions, such as drone pilot and drone fleet manager, the oil and gas industry features a wide range of high-priority roles impacted by the skills gap. According to a recent study by RAND Corporation, the sector needs plenty of “lease operators (also known as well tenders), equipment operators, maintenance and service technicians…electrical engineers…welders, pipeline layers…commercial drivers…machinists [and] warehouse operators.”
The 2019 GETI Report also notes that “the pool of available, blue-collar talent has shrunk rapidly. These skills are proving to be the most urgent of needs…In the US, blue-collar skills are more in demand than engineering roles.”
The Airswift article summarizes things succinctly:
“There is a very real problem standing on the doorstep of oil and gas companies, and it is one that needs a huge amount of effort and foresight to solve for long-term growth and success. We’re talking about the industry skills gap which is crippling energy companies, holding up work and causing projects to go over budget…More than half of professionals in the industry across the globe believe that a growing skills shortage is by [far] the biggest challenge the industry faces both now and in the future.”
Technical Training to the Rescue
As the Airswift article makes clear, oil and gas companies are learning that the skills gap is a problem that won’t go away just by throwing money at it. It requires a multifaceted approach with coordination between a variety of stakeholders, including employers, educators, workforce development programs, and even local, state, and federal governments.
Ongoing Training Is Key
While long-range plans are set into motion, employers still must do what they can in the meantime. Airswift notes that the 2019 GETI Report’s survey found that nearly two-thirds of respondents believe “companies should be turning their attention internally and retraining existing employees to deliver the skills they need to bridge the gap.”
The author of the Energy Sourcing article agrees: Training current and new employees with cross-functional skills “may be the quickest answer to the industry’s current hiring challenges.” Another strategy many employers consider is luring skilled talent away from other industries.
However, bringing in people from other disciplines isn’t a “plug and play” phenomenon. Instead, the Energy Source article points out that “when it comes to the required knowledge to be proficient in oil and gas exploration and development, they will need additional training in certain areas to enter this industry ready to be contributing members of the team.”
The oil and gas industry differs from other industries in that the wide variety of specialized skillsets it requires make initial and ongoing internal training a necessity. Two recent studies reveal the nature of this need.
The RAND Corporation study concludes:
“About half of employers (52 percent) reported employing high-priority occupations that require moderate-term on-the-job training (including inspectors, welders, and roustabouts) and about one in four employers (28 percent) reported having high-priority occupations that require long-term on-the-job training (including mechanics, machinists, and wellhead plumbers). Thus, for many of the oil and gas sector employers…it is essential to invest in and commit to providing on-the-job training to ensure their workers can adequately perform their duties.”
Similarly, SPE Research’s Training and Development Survey notes that “[u]pon starting a career [in the oil and gas industry], the majority (86.8%) of employees require training…[and] “[n]early a fifth (19.2%) required extensive training”…[and] [m]ost (82.4%) expect their employer to provide them with some of this training.”
More Than a Short-Term Solution
The RAND Corporation study goes on to explain that training is much more than just a short-term solution:
“[A] sizeable number of high-priority occupations require long-term training…underscor[ing] the need for ongoing training and professional development after hiring to ensure that employees are getting training both for the jobs they currently have and for the jobs they might take in the future. Focusing on the workforce as a pipeline that supports careers rather than a single hiring transaction at entry is essential for sustaining the oil and natural gas industry over the long term.”
The SPE Research survey also makes a strong case for focusing on employee training as a means of not only empowering employees with the skills they need but also meeting their expectations for career development: “Overall, a wide range of skills are important for a successful career in the oil and gas industry; therefore employees place great emphasis on training and development opportunities when choosing their employers.”
The survey notes that “[i]t is important for companies to have good training and development programs, as three-quarters (74.6%) of employees state that it is important in their choice of role, and over half (53.3%) say that a lack of opportunities would be enough for them to consider leaving.”
Gaining Momentum
It appears employers are getting the message, since “[e]ight out of ten companies provide at least some formal training as their overall approach to employee development,” and “[t]echnical training is the most common form of training provided by employers.”
This response is being echoed by other industries, including advanced manufacturing. For example, The Manufacturing Institute Training Survey recently made these key findings regarding training programs in the advanced manufacturing sector:
- “Nearly 70% of manufacturers are addressing the workforce crisis by creating and expanding internal training programs for their workforce, among other tactics.”
- “More than 79% of respondents said that they have increased their training activities.”
- “Three-quarters of respondents said that upskilling workers helped to improve employee productivity, with promotion opportunities and morale also leading the list of reasons why companies might embrace training programs.”
- “In dollar terms, the Institute estimates that the sector spent at least $26.2 billion in 2019 on internal and external training programs for new and existing manufacturing employees.”
Oil and gas companies would do well to follow the example set by manufacturers by taking on the responsibility “to build stronger pipelines to address not only the needs of their businesses but also the needs of their workers.”
Quality Matters
What kind of training is necessary? The answer to that question will vary widely amongst oil and gas companies. Is your company upstream, midstream, or downstream? What roles are you having trouble filling because of the skills gap?
What will not change from company to company is the need for high-quality training that efficiently and effectively teaches current and future employees the skills they need to succeed on the job. This is particularly true for the oil and gas industry, given its broad scope of roles with specialized skill requirements.
Unfortunately, many training programs don’t meet the needs of the oil and gas industry. As the RAND Corporation study notes, “[l]ess than half of courses aimed at future workers in the oil and natural gas industry use contextualized instruction. Contextualized instruction uses occupational applications to teach basic academic skills (and vice versa) in such a way that the student learns both simultaneously.”
Teaching relevant skills in the context of the oil and gas industry is especially important because the industry is unique in so many ways. The most effective training will provide employees with hands-on experience with real oil and gas components. The RAND Corporation study supports this approach: “past research shows that contextualized instruction is an effective approach to teaching occupationally focused students…particularly when it includes ‘real-world’ simulations of workplace situations with actual workplace equipment.”
DAC Worldwide: Your Source for Effective Training Tools
Oil and gas companies don’t need to recreate the wheel when looking for quality, effective technical training tools. Instead, they can rely upon a trusted training partner like DAC Worldwide to provide the guidance they need.
DAC Worldwide offers a wide variety of technical training tools specifically for the oil and gas industry. Importantly, these tools provide the contextualized, hands-on training current and future employees expect, want, and need.
Contact a DAC Worldwide representative to consult with you regarding your specific training needs. In the paragraphs that follow, we’ll take a look at just a small sample of the many training tools offered by DAC Worldwide, including training systems, cutaways, dissectibles, models, and sample boards.
Training Systems
Rather than broad-based training in multiple areas, DAC Worldwide’s training systems provide hands-on training focused on specific tasks. This makes them particularly helpful to employers for skill assessment (either pre-employment or for upskilling purposes).
For example, DAC Worldwide’s Vertical Separator Trainer (295-101) consists of a reduced-scale, three-phrase vertical separator that mimics its real-world counterpart by using alternate production stream components, refined oil, air, and water. It also features real industrial components, such as on-board supply pumps, a regenerative blower, a static mixer, metered valves, flowmeters, an inlet diverter, overflow weir, mist eliminator, and a custom-fabricated, large-diameter, clear acrylic, vertical separator vessel.
Cutaways
DAC Worldwide’s industrial component cutaways provide hands-on experience with real, industrial components that have been professionally sectioned to expose key internal components to help learners understand how they work. For industrial training relevance, common models by well-known manufacturers are chosen when manufacturing cutaways.
There are two dozen cutaways related to oil production to choose from, including a wide variety of regulators, valves, and gauges. For example, the Extended Wellhead Assembly Cutaway (295-795E) consists of a full-size, fully-detailed example of a high-pressure wellhead assembly that gives learners a first-hand view into a component found in oilfield applications worldwide. It features a variety of real industrial components learners will encounter on the job, including a casing head/starter head, tubing head, tree bonnet adapter, adjustable choke, and gate-type block valve.
Dissectibles
DAC Worldwide’s dissectibles take cutaways to the next level by allowing learners to disassemble and reassemble real industrial components. There’s simply no better way to train someone on the maintenance of a particular component than letting them disassemble and reassemble an actual unit. Plus, dissectibles provide experience with real components without damaging actual equipment.
For example, the Representative Triplex, Plunger Mud Pump Dissectible (295-418) is an economical, conveniently-sized triplex plunger-type mud pump assembly that teaches learners hands-on maintenance activities commonly required on larger mud pump assemblies used in upstream oilfield production operations. DAC Worldwide’s dissectible mud pump is a realistic sample that’s similar in geometry, design, and operating characteristics to the larger varieties learners will encounter on the job.
Models
DAC Worldwide also offers a variety of incredibly-detailed, intricately-crafted models. Sometimes industrial training tends to focus so intently on the details that learners can’t see the forest for the trees. Models allow students to learn how the parts of a system work together on a small, easily-managed model without the need for a field trip to an industrial site.
There are more than a dozen models related to oil production to choose from, including separators, tanks, turbines, pumps, and piping systems. For example, the Pumpjack Package Model (295-408) is a highly-detailed, professionally-crafted technical scale model of a common oilfield production pump. Fully-detailed, this benchtop model depicts all primary pump features including counterweights, double-reduction gearbox, walking beam, horse head, sampson post, prime mover, pitman arm assembly, and representative wellhead.
Sample Boards
DAC Worldwide’s sample boards offer valuable maintenance training in the identification and selection of a variety of industrial components. Each sample board features a selection of real industrial components mounted with nameplates for easy association with individual components.
For example, the Piping Component Sample Board (865-PAC1) is a hands-on teaching aid designed to supplement courses in piping design, process operations, and pipe installation to help industrial maintenance technicians identify and select industrial piping components. Components from four common piping systems are provided. These samples represent a variety of piping system designs and include a broad range of fittings.
We encourage you to connect with DAC Worldwide via its social media channels, including YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
- Published in News