At Bauma 2022, Scott Lidster visited the Bauer Group’s exhibition for its insight on operator training.
Well, I finally ticked off a bucket list item when I recently attended the largest trade exhibition in the world, Bauma 2022 in Munich, Germany.
Along with checking out the latest and greatest from just about every OEM on planet, I was keen to get amongst all things training when I arrived at Bauma’s Messe Munchen exhibition grounds.
BAUER GROUP
There were a few exhibitors who had some real neat simulators, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) solutions. But the company that caught my eye was the Bauer Group, a world renowned foundation contractor and builder of the finest foundation equipment.
Now I’m going to be honest, I’d never heard of Bauer and I know squat about the foundation sector. So you could imagine my surprise when I rounded the corner to their site to see a bunch of crazy looking foundation equipment! For a second, I thought of just bailing and heading off to find something in my lane (earthmoving). But I’m glad I walked inside and introduced myself to Brigitte Niemann, Bauer Training and Development Consultant, who graciously walked me through some of their training solutions.
Brigitte went on to tell me that Bauer has purpose-built facilities all around the globe, the closet to our neck of the woods being in Singapore, Malaysia. At these facilities you can tick off all your traditional delivered training requirements, like operator training for drill rigs, pile drivers and duty cycle for cranes, training for mechanics and service personnel.
And the real intriguing one for me, operator training for process technologies/mixing and separation technology, which drills into the art of soil mixing (pun intended)! Super important to know, as it improves the capability of the equipment and the quality of work carried out.
NEXT LEVEL OPERATOR TRAINING
As cool as all of Bauer’s traditional training methods are, it wasn’t until Brigitte shifted gears and started to tell me about their “Next Level Operator Training” that harnesses AR capabilities, that I started to get excited. This product came about during the pandemic, when travelling to a customer’s sites pretty much ceased. Products still needed to be supported and operators still needed training, right?
So, what did Bauer do? They got together with one their partners – Usaneers GmbH – and developed this super neat, innovative training solution.
There are two training options for the construction sector. The only prerequisites are a stable internet connection and the AR glasses, which will be shipped out to you prior to the training event, along with a specially designed hard hat that accommodates the VR glasses (safety first!) all in a tough-as-nails travel case.
OPTION ONE
The trainee wears the AR glasses, and the trainer is connected virtually from where in the world, providing live guidance in the application. In this way, the trainee is presented with a worksite under real conditions, but also receives the necessary support to manage the task as well as the required theory.
The visual field of the glasses is transmitted in a web application and enables the trainer to interact via video and audio from any
location. The versatile tools of the AR application make it possible to highlight objects in the working environment, display images, videos or technical documents in the visual field or also work together on the shared screen. The entire time, the trainee has their hands free to carry out the required activities.
OPTION TWO
The trainer wears the glasses and is on the equipment or on the site. The trainee follows the activity remotely. This option is particularly suited for groups, as multiple participants can follow the training from their own end device or together in the training centre.
So there we have it, a snapshot of how training can be completed differently and remotely. Needless to say, I’m a fan.