EMEA Reporter: Mobile in Action—a High-end Case Study

At Germany’s globally renowned KRAFTWERKSSCHULE E.V. (KWS), mobile isin action, as power station operator training shifts to the iPad, augmentingand perhaps eventually replacing complex fixed physical facilities. KWS runstraining for much of Germany’s power utility industry and has a global reach. Figure1 shows a typical operator training simulator.

Figure 1: Operatortraining simulator

For decades, such operator-trainingsimulators, costing millions to develop and run and sited in huge, complexsuites of rooms that replicate the real-life experience, have been the cuttingedge of training in the industry. Now KWS has taken a new leap into the future,aiming to bring mobile delivery of highly complex training into the workplace andbeyond—into 24/7 access for employees.

Christian Umierski, power plant shiftsupervisor training manager for KWS, is the brains behind the idea. “At a timewhen every utility is under pressure to minimize costs, they question takingpeople off the job for extended periods of residential training. Companiessimply do not have either the human resources or the money to do it. Also, wefound increasingly that our students were using the Internet and mobile devicesas a natural part of their lives, even setting up their own communities to helpwith their learning. So I decided to see if I could build a mobile simulator.”

T-FOKS

The result, known as T-FOKS,is KWS’s first individualized workplace simulator, with the Apple iPadproviding the hardware. T-FOKS enables emulation of a variety of fossil-firedpower plants as required in a full-scope generic simulation. Umierski says, “Traineescan rehearse switching sequences and other procedures on several simulatorsautonomously and simultaneously, enabling them to visualize the dynamics ofpower plant processes.”

KWS has employed T-FOKSin training segments and laboratory exercises this year to enhanceparticipants’ understanding of power plant processes and installations. In addition,their newly created simulator forum puts a number of workplace simulators atthe disposal of all KWS’s training participants.

The system consists ofa server contained in a suitcase along with six iPads—one for the subjectmatter expert (SME) and five for learners, with communication via a WiFiconnection (see the system components in Figure 2). Umierski continues, “TheSME is able to create and vary a wide range of parameters, like the load on theplant or a broken component that students will encounter in the workplace. TheSME can stop the process and can jump back in the timeline to give participantsthe opportunity for a different solution to the learning objective.”

Figure 2:T-FOKS system components

Experience with T-FOKS

“We can move away fromlecturing into expert tutorials, using an accompanying interactive whiteboard,to define workplace problems, discuss possible ways forward, and then set upsimulations that students can explore in their own time to find optimalsolutions,” Umierski says.

Up to now KWS has usedthe mobile simulator in its state-of-the-art training facility in Essen,Germany, but plans are afoot to take it into the field.

Umierski told me, “Wecan use it for training, but also as a mobile laboratory actually on site withour customers to find solutions to specific workplace problems, so we will beable to call on all the necessary expertise present in the plant, not just thestudents attending our courses. Using this kind of approach we will be able toremain effective, flexible, and cost-efficient in our support for our customers.”

It seems that T-FOKSbegins a new era in the highly complex field of power plant training. A simplesuitcase full of mobile technology opens the door to a better experience forthe learner and a better quality outcome for the employer. It heralds a “closer-to-the-problem”collaboration between learner, peers, employer, and learning facilitator. TheT-FOKS mobile simulator is helping create a new value-adding relationship betweenlearning and business performance.

Speaking of the payoffof this simulator, Umierski said, “In learning terms, we have found immediatebenefits using T-FOKS. Students enjoy using the touch-sensitive screen. It is moreimmediate and faster than using a mouse. Modern technology excites them. Theybecome more engaged. They can continue their development outside the KWSclassroom, in their leisure time.”

Video interview

I talked to Christianto hear first-hand how the development has happened and his plans for expandingthe use of mobile technology in supporting KWS customers and learners (see thevideo below). He says, “My aim is for it to become as much a standard as theprojector or the interactive whiteboard.”

Last month I wroteabout a tablet-based initiative at the other end of the scale, helping youngchildren get excited about learning in impoverished environments. KWS’sinitiative shows that mobile is everywhere and adds value even at complextechnical levels of the learning spectrum and experience.