Posted to News on 17th Jan 2008, 09:31
Training on Siemens, Allen Bradley and Mitsubishi PLCs
Festo Didactic, the training and consulting arm of Festo, is launching a raft of new training courses for maintenance and service engineers. As a result of a collaboration with Industrial Training and Consultancy Services (INTACS), the company is now offering 14 manufacturer-specific PLC training courses, covering Basic and Intermediate Level Maintenance and Troubleshooting requirements for popular Siemens, Rockwell/Allen Bradley and Mitsubishi PLCs. Two further courses are also being introduced for personnel having little or no electrical knowledge; one covers Basic Industrial Electrics and Control Fundamentals, the other provides training in Health and Safety.
The manufacturer-specific PLC training courses complement Festo Didactic's general courses on this subject and enable maintenance engineers to familiarise themselves with the actual PLC technology in use where they work. The courses cover the Siemens S7-300/400 and S5 PLCs, Rockwell/Allen Bradley ControlLogix SLC 500 and PLC-5 PLCs, and Mitsubishi PLCs.
Gary Wyles, Managing Director of Festo UK, comments: "The UK manufacturing industry is facing unprecedented challenges and has to work ever harder to remain competitive. And there are no 'silver bullets' - it is all down to 'doing what you do, only better.' One of the most effective ways of achieving this is refining and tuning maintenance engineering skills - which is what these courses are all about."
The Basic Industrial Electrics and Control Fundamentals training course targets non-electrical maintenance personnel and provides the knowledge, skills and confidence required to work safely alongside qualified electricians. Course participants will become familiar with modern industrial components, along with the principles of operation and how to check for fault status. The course also covers safe working practices and provides a practical introduction to fault finding.
A new course on Electrical Health and Safety competency is designed for fitters, mechanics and electricians, who, to satisfy the requirements of current Health and Safety law, now need to be able to prove that they have received appropriate and current formal electrical health and safety training and have been coached and assessed regarding their responsibilities and on-site isolation procedures and health and safety requirements.
Festo Didactic delivers these training courses in collaboration with INTACS. All course participants complete a Training Record Log, which details the key knowledge and essential practical skills covered on the course, with attendees being required to sign-off essential topics to confirm understanding and competence.
