Komatsu has set up business unit Komatsu Training Academy – a nationally registered training organisation – to deliver vocational educational courses.

The academy will be headed by Janine Temple, who has more than 17 years’ experience in training and management development roles.

KTA is headquartered at the Komatsu Technical Education Centre in Brisbane, which has become the company’s primary training centre in the region.

Temple said KTA had been developed to deliver nationally recognised and customised training where customers needed it.

This includes training online, on site at the customer’s premises or at Komatsu’s dedicated facilities in Brisbane and other centres.

“Our course offerings include a mix of fully accredited, nationally recognised courses and modules along with purpose-designed training developed to meet customers’ specific needs,” Temple said.

In the operator and technical training field she said a major focus would be moving beyond basic competency training into more advanced proficiency development.

“All too often today training is merely focused on churning out numbers of trainees,” Temple said.

“There is a major difference between a key technician or operator who is merely competent, compared with one who is truly proficient at their job – and the differences can translate into significant benefits to the company’s bottom line.”

The KTEC has more than 2600sq.m of dedicated training facilities including seven classrooms, seven technical-electrical laboratories and a large machine operator’s workshop.

It also incorporates a number of simulators, providing the ability for both novice and experienced operators to safely learn on a range of machines.

Courses available cover a variety of mining, construction and utility machine types.