Konecranes Establishes Dedicated UK Training Centre

KONECRANES ESTABLISHES DEDICATED UK TRAINING CENTRE Recognising the importance of training across all aspects of its business, Konecranes – a world leading manufacturer of lifting equipment – has opened a new state-of-the-art training centre located at its UK headquarters in Castle Donington, Notts. Serving to set benchmark industry standards, this latest facility is one of the most advanced across Konecranes’ 48 worldwide locations. Created to provide the perfect training environment irrespective of the type and nature of the course being delivered – from bespoke to more general - the UK centre features a combination of practical and theoretical training areas. At the heart of the facility are two purpose-designed training rooms, both with a capacity to accommodate up to 16 delegates. Whilst one is equipped with the latest audio-visual and presentation equipment, the other is dedicated to delivering more hands-on electrical training and features mobile workbenches and a variety of hoists. The centre is also home to a workshop training area that features the latest Konecranes has to offer when it comes to hoists and crane technology. Indeed at its heart are two, 2.5 tonne SG CXTS cranes (single gantry electric wire rope hoists) that are fully automated and synchronised. To further facilitate the ease with which training can be delivered, this area has, in part, been uniquely engineered to enable training to be undertaken from ground floor level. Here a combination of Konecranes’ latest CXT hoists and CLX overhead cranes can be accessed and worked on with ease. Commenting on the creation of the training centre, the person tasked with establishing the new facility, Konecranes' UK Training Manager Martin Wadeson said: “Right from the outset it was our aim to create a training facility that would be the envy of the lifting equipment industry and we are confident that this will, indeed, prove to be the case. Not only does the centre possess the resources that are required for effective training to be delivered across a broad spectrum of subject areas, the suite of specific training courses that we will be presenting will match this. “Konecranes recognises the need to progressively elevate the skills base of not just its own employees but also those of its customers moving forwards, and the decision to invest in training to this magnitude bears testimony to this fact,” he added. With courses already underway, the centre will focus on training provision for all Konecranes’ technicians and inspectors, not to mention customer service staff and crane operators. Courses will cover product and maintenance specialist training, health and safety, and Tech 1 and 2 Service Technician Certification programmes. It will also be used for intense induction training of all new employees, whether in relation to managerial, technical or back office staff positions. To support the implementation and delivery of its training initiatives and programmes, Konecranes is also developing a new support framework. Alongside four global/country specialists, will be a team of 14/21 district specialists.