have extensive training curricula,”
Johnson says.
It doesn’t require a dedicated state-of-the-art training complex to provide
excellent valve and actuator training,
however. Since the cost of high-quality
video cameras and digital editing equipment has dropped, many companies are
producing training videos in-house, and
making them available to customers.
Even the simple “lunch and learn”
format programs are receiving more
support these days. These programs provide a venue where a manufacturer or
distributor can go into a customer’s
plant and offer an hour or more of
focused valve or actuator training,
along with a quick lunch, so the students
don’t have to leave their facilities. For a
user company, such training or training
of any type can improve operations and
reduce costs through greater efficiency
and reduced downtime.
“With the economy the way it is
nowadays, plants are taking a proactive
stance with staff to learn as much as
possible so that they don’t have to call a
[repair] company with really simple
issues,” says Jack Roubik, sales manager at Wal-Tech, a valve service provider
in Mobile, AL.
He adds that: “A lot of these people
have not even seen a valve or dealt with
a valve before.” They don’t know basic
information such as what a relief valve
looks like or how to install it or remove
it properly for maintenance, he explains.
