The American subsidiary of German longwall equipment giant Deutsche Bergbau Technik, DBT America, has ushered in a new era of customer training with the introduction of a mobile training unit.
A spokesman for the group told ILN the unit was designed to provide hands-on training for operators of DBT's electronic shield and drive control systems. The air-conditioned 2.44m-by-11m unit was literally a "classroom on wheels" that could be taken to any customer's mine site.
"This allows the maximum number of our customer’s employees to be properly trained on the operation and maintenance of the most technologically advanced equipment in the longwall industry," he said.
To provide “students” with actual hands-on experience, one end of the room is equipped with 42 actual PM-4 shield control units, a set of Protecs and MS-1’s for the Control Start Transmission (CST), and an MCU, which can display either Citect or the VTR32 visualization software.
The interior of the training unit is configured so that the seating arrangement can be easily changed, to allow for either classroom or conference configurations. It can also be used during customer presentations, to demonstrate technological advantages of DBT equipment.
In addition to providing training on DBT equipment, specialized instruction such as miner safety training, underground qualification and re-qualification training can be offered. In this way, DBT customers can realize the maximum benefit of having the training unit on their property, the company said.
