Crane Simulators are Good Business
Crane simulators are a time and cost-saving training resource for construction companies, tree care services, and more.
Onsite crane simulator training is one of the best investments a company can make for its employees. Given that 83% of construction firms are concerned about inexperienced skilled labor or workforce shortages, skills verification and training should be a must in 2022. At one time, hands-on job experience was the only way to identify a crane operator’s vulnerabilities or verify their skills. That old way of doing things has many drawbacks. For one, on-the-job crane operator skills training is dangerous. Hands-on training can be hard on expensive machinery. Additionally, pulling your company’s equipment from a job-in-progress costs your company money.
Good news: NJ Crane Expert’s professional crane simulators deliver hands-on training to your jobsite via a climate-controlled mobile trailer to minimize interruptions, making crane operator education and instruction more accessible to all levels of expertise.
Industry professionals recognize health and safety on the job site are synonymous with good business. Having well-trained employees results in significant long-term cost savings, boosted morale, and increased client satisfaction. Crane simulator software offers real-world training in a safe setting for construction and tree service business owners, utility crews, safety and training professionals, and others in related industries.
This article outlines how professional simulator training is used to establish crane operators have the operational skills and worksite awareness necessary to work in real-world settings.
What are Crane Simulators and Why Should You be Using Them?
Using an actual job-site crane for training isn’t just tricky, it’s dangerous and impractical. Crane simulators use computer-generated scenarios to provide operator trainees the guidance and practice they need to learn from and react to real-life test conditions.
NJ Crane Experts’ crane simulators recreate the physical environment experienced by a crane operator using hand and foot controls identical to those on a typical crane, as well as seat movement and motion. The simulation software accurately captures the behavior of rigging and housing cables, from the load to the drum, using actual engineering properties. Those behaviors include loads swinging, snagging and colliding just as they would on the jobsite, providing a realistic, but safe, training environment.
Simulator training is a game-changer for the crane industry as they allow students the time necessary for optimal operator training using various scenarios that include different environments, difficulty levels, tasks, and settings. Regardless of skill level, individuals can utilize crane simulators to safely hone their skills to ensure they are prepared to use the heavy equipment entrusted to them.
Besides the obvious training benefits, companies can use this software to verify their employees are well-suited to operate in a real job site. In the past, companies have had to learn the hard way when new employees caused significant damage to expensive heavy equipment—or risked injury to themselves and others. Using a crane simulator, your firm can set a baseline for new hires.
What to Look for in a Crane Simulator for Training and Safety
Realism is central to practical training. What should you look for when selecting a crane simulator for training? Simulators offered by NJ Crane Expert, a professional crane training company, feature:
Large, clear graphic interface that doesn’t flicker or pulse
Real-world operator functionality: industrial joysticks, hand levers, control panels, and responsive foot controls
Seat simulation providing a real-life crane cab motion experience
A range of different programs, skill levels, and crane types
Programs based on engineering principles
Plus, we bring the simulators to you in a climate-controlled trailer, reducing slow-downs and expense.
NJ Crane Expert’s Crane Simulators: Training Plus Convenience
When you rent NJ Crane Expert’s simulators you get all the benefits of professional crane simulators brought to you in a climate-controlled trailer. Available for a day,a week, or even a month, the trailer houses two crane simulators so you can have multiple team members training from the privacy of the trailer. And, you have a choice between running the simulators on your own or having one of our expert trainers onsite to assist your crew.
Our simulators run software packages that include:
Basic Controls
Loading & Unloading materials from a trailer
NCCCO Practical Exam preparation
Task based assessments
Generalized practice in “Sandbox” environment
Building steel buildings
Operating in a tight spaces
These exercises are great for maintaining annual qualifications and training, too! As an employer, you should provide on-going qualification training to all of your operators. Upon completing a session in the simulator your trainees will have the proper documentation showing you are continuing to support their training efforts.
Available cranes for training include:
Boom Truck (with or without digger derrick)
Articulating Boom Truck
Tower Crane (at various heights)
Luffing Tower Crane
Crawler Crane
Rough Terrain Crane
Forestry Forwarder
Forestry Harvester
Heavy Equipment Simulators Are the Future of Construction Industry Training
Unlike flight simulators in the aerospace and airline industries, crane simulators have not been universally adopted by the construction industry, yet. Still, the trend seems to be going in that direction. Private companies that have adopted this type of technology are already reaping the benefits.
The use of crane simulators for training helps create an environment of safer operators, reduces wear and tear on equipment, and saves time and money in the long run. And bringing simulators to the jobsite saves even more time and money.
Operators who train with our simulators develop the real-world skills required to safely operate cranes. Our simulators can scale to your training and budget needs while providing the most transferable skills on the market today, outside of the actual equipment.
Ready to learn more about renting NJ Crane Experts’ professional crane simulators? Click through to reserve your spot today.
A Flemington crane operator-trainer launches a traveling simulation program
The need for skilled mobile crane operators is on the rise, Tielmann said, due to demand in the residential real estate construction market. A few years ago, the “next big thing” for residential real estate companies to purchase was a bucket truck, also known as cherry picker, Tielmann explained. Now, it’s a mobile boom crane.
Crane Operators Have Mobile Simulation Training Options
In response to worsening labor shortages, NJ Crane Expert has announced simulation training for mobile crane operators and those who aspire to have a career as a certified crane operator. NJ Crane Expert, a provider of mobile crane training and certification, now adds two mobile crane simulators to its hands-on training.
TCI Expo 2021 Recap!
NCCER class, parties, mobile crane simulators and a ton of networking! TCI Expo was awesome - we were so happy to be back!
Well, that’s a wrap!!
What a week it was! Just incase you missed it, we wanted to give you a quick run down of, what turned out to be, a great TCI Expo in Indianapolis.
NCCER Mobile Crane Certification Course
We hosted a kick ass NCCER Mobile Crane Certification course for 15 tree care professionals! This is the first time we hosted a pre-conference NCCER course, and will not be the last. We had guys from all over the country join together before expo for an awesome class. There is just something so awesome about getting like minded individuals together to talk about how great this industry is. If you have been on the fence about registering for an upcoming class, take a look at this video - I dare you not to get excited.
TCI Expo Show Floor
Onto the main event… the show!! Truthfully, we were not to sure what to expect. Everyone is so busy with work - we are still in the middle of a pandemic, how was turn out really going to be? Well, it was awesome. Maybe it was because we hadn’t seen anyone in so long, but it was incredible to be back in such great company. We started Thursday off with 46 demo appointments for our mobile crane simulators! Demos consisted of either boom truck, tower, rough terrain, lattice, crawler or forestry cranes. By mid day Thursday we booked out all of our appointments and went to first come first serve! We are thrilled to bring this technology to the tree care industry and can’t wait to bring our custom trailer on a road trip!
It wouldn’t have been an expo without some sort of party! On Friday night we had an impromptu get together at Brother. We got to hang out - outside of our booth - with past & future students, our trainers & staff, family & friends!
OH and before all of this, we changed it up a little bit and hosted all of our trainers at Top Golf. Yeah yeah, golf, not exactly a “tree man” activity - but there was something very gratifying about whacking golf balls. Ask Devon from Sugarbush, he loved it.
NJ Crane Expert Purchases Two Mobile Crane Simulators to Add to Training Offerings
First we added a BIK TC 106 to our training offerings, and now we have added two mobile crane simulators. The simulators will be available for hourly, daily, weekly or monthly use. An hour in the simulator is equivalent to one hour of real seat time. Sharpen your skills or test your knowledge, these simulators can do everything for mobile, lattice, and tower cranes.