Case Study – New Engineer Training
Given the custom nature of many of the applications we work with it can be difficult to train engineers on how to make specific repairs until the issue occurs. Whilst we cover detailed theory for applications with new engineers, there is no substitute for seeing a breakdown / issue in real life. We’re showing that aR (assisted Reality) Technology improves training efficiency, breaks down knowledge silos and delivers cost savings too.
When Ivan Lesnianski joined SSS at the end of March as our new Junior Field Services Engineer we wanted to get him trained up as quickly as possible using the latest technology.
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- Reduced training cost and time for new engineers
- Reduced service impact from cross-training
- New engineers are remote service specialists by default
Normally, new recruits shadow a Senior Service Engineer for months to accrue even the basic skills and experience to operate alone. Even then, Junior Engineers won’t see the insides of complex kit until it breaks. So, when a long time customer offered us a decommissioned Agilent 6890 GC, we knew we had an opportunity to do things differently. Instead of making the day long drive to the SSS office, Senior Service Engineer, Nathan Burley would remotely train Ivan via the Maintastic platform and one of SSS’s new Realwear Navigator-500 headsets.
“Being able to use the Realwear headset during training has given me so much confidence, I feel I’m ready to be deployed on my own.”
The Navigator’s 48 MP camera captures everything Ivan does with his hands. It has 5x zoom, flash / light, video recording and an eyepiece which shows Ivan his own video feed. The eyepiece at the front of the headset provides Ivan with what looks like a 7″ display just below his eye line. Meanwhile, the Maintastic app allows Nathan to view Ivan’s camera feed, and make live video annotations which Ivan can see and follow. Over the space of several days the pair disassembled and rebuilt entire sections of the 6890 GC, recording and documenting processes as they went.
“I often struggle not to intervene as a trainer. I want to show the trainee how to do it but people often learn best when they do it for themselves. The remote aspect actually forced me to let Ivan do everything.”
– Nathan Burley, Senior Service Engineer
We have already trained Ivan on many issues that our Senior Engineers had not seen personally in over two years of in field work. This means Ivan is better prepared for a variety of breakdown issues and has hands-on experience making the required repairs. As an engineer, Ivan will also be an ‘AR native’, confident and practiced in remote service work with the next generation of tools and technology.
“Knowing I have over 30 years of GC experience to fall back on if I come across something I haven’t seen before fills me with confidence. The guys will be looking over my shoulder as if they were in the room with me”
– Ivan Lesnianski, Junior Service Engineer
Increasing the number of SSS engineers will ensure we maintain rapid response times and offer the very best service. aR technology improves training by allowing SSS engineers to share knowledge in new ways, ensuring they are always up to date.
“The ability to document the fixes we make and then share them within the team will make us much more competitive.”
Nathan Burley, Senior Service Engineer
