‘Farm Supplies’ to install simulator at Linden Technical Institute –to help develop skilled labour for extractive industries
Some of the Doosan equipment that the youths of Linden will be trained to operate
Some of the Doosan equipment that the youths of Linden will be trained to operate

LOCAL company, Farm Supplies Limited, has taken another initiative to develop skilled manpower in Guyana in adequate numbers, with respect to operating of heavy-duty equipment.The company last week acquired a training simulator, which would be given to the Linden Technical Institute (LTI) to be used in training Region 10 youths to operate heavy-duty equipment used in the extractive industries of forestry and mining.

The John Deere operator-training simulator
The John Deere operator-training simulator

Farm Supplies is a family-owned business, which began operating in 1993 selling mechanised solutions in the form of equipment, maintaining a strategic inventory of spare parts, and providing technical services and training to keep its market for heavy-duty equipment produced by Doosan of South Korea.

Commenting on the support for LTI, Service Manager of Farm Supplies, Sarda Shew, said the company has recognised a shortage of skilled heavy duty equipment operators countrywide, and has accepted that the capacity to develop skilled manpower of good quality in adequate number was an essential requirement for promoting  economic and industrial development.

The John Deere Operator Training Simulator, acquired at a cost of Gy$5.5M, will be located at the LTI in a room currently being refurbished by Farm Supplies. This equipment has been described as a cost-effective, safe, and efficient way to train new operators in a risk-free environment.
It has customer-driven training features for real-world situations such as jobsite hazards, safety violations, hand signals, equipment damage, budget-based scoring, and replica machine controls; and can be safely and effectively used to train operators while avoiding fuel costs, equipment damage, risks to personnel, machine downtime, weather restrictions and emissions.

The simulator training will help to build the proficiency and confidence necessary for operation, allowing a new operator to become familiar with the machine’s controls while gaining confidence needed before setting foot in a real machine.

The company has already done much work in enhancing the training capabilities of the technical institute to benefit students in heavy duty equipment operation, and had targeted the LTI for support, given that Lindeners additionally have a history of familiarization with heavy-duty equipment.

The LTI project is being co-ordinated by Schelte Vandijk of Farm Supplies, and the simulator  would be installed at the LTI and be ready for use when that institution reopens after the Christmas holidays.

Farm Supplies’ Service Manager Ms Shew also disclosed that the company had recently repaired a Bobcat, a small excavator owned by the LTI which had been non-operational for several months.
This Bobcat will be pressed into service in the re-energized training programmes of the LTI for operation of heavy duty equipment.

(By Clifford Stanley)

 

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