Simulator Saves Training Dollars

Always looking to improve safety, ACPA member company Conco Pumping purchased one of the first ACPA wireless boom simulators in October 2019. The unit was sent to the company’s Southern California operation so general manager Doug Marquis could test it and become familiar with it. Marquis had been involved with the ACPA committee that spearheaded its development in conjunction with CM Labs, the construction industry’s leading supplier of simulation-based training and instruction tools.

Made available for purchase by the ACPA last fall, the wireless boom simulator incorporates virtual reality to give trainees or prospective job candidates a realistic pump-operating experience. “We support the industry’s eˇort to bring in new and better-trained operators, so we were eager to introduce this new technology to improve our business and the industry,” says Marquis.

After familiarizing himself with the simulator, Marquis planned to send it to the company’s Northern California operation in the Bay Area to train new operators at that location. In Southern California, the company didn’t see the simulator being an effective tool for training because of the local union’s hiring requirements and apprenticeship rules. Apprentices in Southern California aren’t allowed to operate a concrete pump unless they’re working with a journeyman operator.

“Since we only have one operator on most jobs, it just doesn’t make sense to pay two operators for the work of one,” explains Marquis. “So we thought we would only be able to use the simulator locally for testing.”

Although Marquis didn’t envision training new Southern California operators with the simulator, he was in for a surprise.

FIRST TIME’S THE CHARM

Conco’s first experience with the concrete pump simulator began in the training room of their Southern California operation. One of Conco’s line pump operators who had never been trained to run a boom wanted to try it and began making a case for moving up to a boom pump.

“I gave him the box, explained the controls and program parameters, and turned him loose,” says Marquis. “He immediately grasped all the functions and beat my time easily. Believe me, that’s not much of an accomplishment, but he also beat the times of everybody else who had tried it to that point—including a couple of seasoned operators.”

He then spent a few hours running through all the various skills programs in the simulator. Based on the operator’s ability to understand the setup, operation and controls while not looking at the remote box, Marquis and other Conco leadership agreed to send him on his first boom pour along with the company’s safety trainer, a qualified operator. After a successful pour, the operator quickly soloed and now runs a boom pump most days. With his ability to run both boom and line pumps, he has a long career ahead of him.

“We can thank the concrete pump simulator for accelerating this young operator’s training and saving us many thousands of dollars in training costs,” says Marquis. “We believe it paid for itself within the first week!”

BENEFITS AND FUTURE PLANS

Companies like Conco that use the training simulator expect to improve safety and reap cost savings in other ways as well. Operators arrive on the job site already proficient with pump remote box controls, resulting in fewer slowdowns and work stoppages.

Workers can be released to operate equipment on their own earlier than is possible with most current training programs, a benefit that will also lead to increased revenues. What’s more, risks will be reduced because there will be fewer on-the-job incidents caused by operator inexperience.

Conco believes the simulator will prove its value as a hands-on training and evaluation tool. “My advice to other companies would be to look at the simulator as a training tool,” says Marquis. “It allows new operators to more quickly become able to run the machine without looking at the controls, which is the end goal.”

Training with a simulator provides a safe environment in which employees can learn. Even if a new operator trains in the safer environment of an equipment yard versus a job site, the risk of damaging a half-million-dollar piece of equipment exists.

In addition to using the simulator for training, Conco expects to use the simulator as an aid for testing operators in the future. “We believe one day the industry will have a certification requiring practical testing that will be measured and scored,” says Marquis. “The simulator will be a means for accomplishing such testing.”

Until that time, Conco Pumping will continue to use the simulator to promote concrete pumping at various job fairs and events to attract new people to the industry. “We’ll also use it to train new operators and those that want to move up to boom pumps within our company,” says Marquis.

The simulator will continue to prove its value to Conco in training new operators and getting them comfortable with the controls in a classroom setting before they operate in the high-pressure environment that exists on the majority of their projects.

To learn more about the ACPA’s Wireless Boom Simulator, contact the ACPA at (614) 431-5618 or Dennis Andrews at (410) 799-4100.

ABOUT THE WIRELESS BOOM SIMULATOR

To operate the wireless boom simulator, users must position themselves in the simulator to access a good view of the pump truck and the area into which they’re pumping.

With the remote box in operator mode, the user walks over to the job foreman to get the job ticket signed, blows the horn, deploys outriggers and levels the pump truck, unfolds the boom, starts the pump— just like in a real-life pumping situation. When the pour is complete, the simulator requires the operator to fold up the pump boom, retract the outriggers and turn o. the truck.

The simulator offers different levels of difficulty. The first of its four pumping scenarios is “ground level,” which offers a very simple pour and is ideal for new hires or recruitment efforts at job fairs. Pumping scenarios advance to higher degrees of difficulty, including a parking garage, the top of a building and a below-grade pour.

The simulator provides a no-pressure atmosphere for the user. Users don’t score points or have requirements to advance to the next level. Instead, critical safety and quality concerns are fully addressed.

For example, training factors include concrete spills, “boom bounce” as the pump cycles, and unforeseen conditions such as damaged piping. Built-in evaluation and reporting help identify areas where proficiency has been achieved or deficiencies are present.