A New Year’s Resolution for your Simulator

If you’re like the rest of us, you might have ‘forgotten’ to make a New Year’s Resolution for 2019, or that promise to hit the gym has already taken a back seat to the myriad of other items on your to-do-list.

Not to worry, you can still accomplish measurable performance improvement in the workplace by choosing one (or a few) items from our simulator resolutions for 2019.

Whether you are a nuclear or thermal plant training instructor, operations training manager or simulator engineer, we can help you implement simulator and training program improvements to make you look like a superstar to your boss.

Simulator Training Instructor

Your priority is improving the human performance and effectiveness of the operations personnel and maintaining training records. All of this, along with revising training materials, developing new training materials and working with the operations organization to define training program needs and evaluate their effectiveness, is surely enough to keep any individual at full capacity.

Want to find a small way to make a big impact?

1. Don’t neglect new scenario development. Create automated plant procedures or SmartScenarios to capture normal, abnormal and infrequent operations. These automated tools will allow you to train operators to diagnose and troubleshoot failures and perform just-in-time training.
2. Finally, upgrade those simulator graphics. Get/Create/Develop/Buy graphic panels representing in-plant control panels, auxiliary or field operations. These graphics make your life easier by saving steps and providing a more procedure-oriented operations training experience.
3. Get a refresher. Like many complex software tools, habitual use and familiarity are likely causing you to only use a small fraction of the tool’s capabilities. Take full advantage of the simulator instructor station with a brief refresher training course. You’ll likely learn something new that will save you time moving forward.

Simulator Engineer

We know you’re busy maintaining and modifying your plant-specific simulator in response to plant changes. So, it’s not surprising that you might not have had time to take advantage of recent simulator software upgrades.

1. Upgrade to the latest simulator software version. It’s not just a best practice, it’s a time saver in the long run. Simulator updates will help your team complete modifications more efficiently. While you might be worried about having the manpower to test the simulator following the update, you can alleviate those fears by outsourcing the update to the simulator software provider. GSE’s Hyperspring division, a large number of SRO-qualified and non-nuclear senior personnel, are more than qualified to provide plant support that meets all your testing, verification and validation needs.
2. Push for a maintenance program. You’ve got a lot on your plate already. Convincing your boss that secure back-ups, continued updates, and priority for engineering support from your simulator vendor is a great use of funds. It will reduce stress for the simulator engineering team and let you focus on what you do best.
3. Think Big. Throughout the year, plant Engineering Change Packages are being considered for impact on training and incorporation into the simulator. The typical approach is getting individual task quotes from your simulation vendor. These one-off activities create inefficiencies for both you and your vendor. Combining projects allows vendors to manage resources better. Consider bringing the vendor to the table to discuss the entire year’s plan of activities. Those “on the fence” mods may be included for less overall cost and more efficiently if the vendor can plan his resources and has a picture of the long view.

Operations Training Manager

You are responsible for providing planning, direction and oversight for the training group. What resources should you provide and how can they best be applied to reach the plant’s overall performance goals? These are big questions and your Training Manager is looking for your answer. Here are a few of the training tools you should consider, all of which can be completed in a few months.

1. Fundamentals…Fundamentals…Fundamentals. Or as Vince Lombardi famously began the first day of training camp the season after he took the team to the NFL Championship game, “This is a football”. Your operator candidates should be experts in the fundamentals. Laying the groundwork with proper fundamentals makes more capable and effective operators. Consider standardized simulations and tutorials to give your candidates a better understanding of process and control fundamentals and standard plant equipment before they start training on the full-scope plant simulator.
2. Part task simulators for targeted efficiency improvement. Sometimes, a particular piece of equipment or process is responsible for most of your plants. Rather than finding time on the full-scope simulator (where there is none) for rigorous training, consider a part-task simulator to provide the specific training your operators and engineering maintenance personnel need.
3. Increase simulator availability. It’s a common thread throughout the industry: simulators have a waiting list among the vast groups that require its services. Unburden your full-scope simulator by using laptop or glass top (VPanel™ ) replica instances for classroom training

Conclusion

While it’s understandable to have given up on your personal New Year’s resolutions (the gyms are empty by now anyway, right?), you can still garner admiration from peers and supervisors for helping to put into place a few workplace resolutions for the year ahead.

Contact us today to learn how we can help you achieve these resolutions.