Toscotec has successfully launched a new digital online Training Center, which offers in-depth and continuously updated technical information and user-friendly education tools. The onboarding of 10 tissue producers was completed in only three months.
Based on Voith’s web portal, the new Training Center has been fully developed and operationalized by Toscotec. The responsible team composed of Pietro Morrica (Training Technical Manager and Sales Support), Lorenzo Melani (Technical Coordinator), and Gabriele Belli (Technical Writer), answered a few questions to point out its key features.
What does the Training Center offer?
Pietro Morrica: First and foremost, it offers immediate access to a very comprehensive set of technical information anytime and on any device. It gives customers on-demand learning tools for their new technology so that they can promptly and independently learn about and resolve many problems that require expert knowledge to fix whenever they occur.
What kind of training can you find in the Training Center?
Pietro Morrica: Both topic-based Training Presentations and animated E-Learning Video Procedures for all tissue mill equipment from Stock Preparation, Main Machine, Support Sub Systems, all the way through Finished Roll Handling after Rewinders. The topic-based Training Presentations gives easy to understand explanations of the technical and functional concepts of Toscotec’s supplied equipment, how to set up the equipment properly, so those concepts work during operation, as well as in depth mechanical and electrical maintenance details of the various systems.
Let’s take for instance the Shoe Press, a user will find all information relating to its mechanical structure and working theory, the hydraulic P&ID diagrams with explanations of the lubrication system components and function, its DCS operation (the tilt and all settings and adjustments), troubleshooting guides, and so on. In brief, all things Shoe Press from any point of view are included and easily accessible.
What about the E-learning part?
Lorenzo Melani: The E-Learning part is specifically designed for maintenance purposes, as it uses both animations and recorded video/pictures of actual equipment to clearly show each step of various maintenance procedures of the complex electro-mechanical automation systems. Firstly, being web-based, it can be accessed from any kind of device – pc, tablet, phone, or even augmented reality glasses/visor – on the mill floor while directly in front of the equipment.
Secondly, operators can watch the video procedure they need to perform while doing it; they can simply play and pause the procedure as they go along. Finally, it is custom and all-inclusive, in the sense that Toscotec will work directly with a customer to develop whatever they will need and give suggestions according to our experience so all the information they need will be there. Before, maintenance operators worked with static mechanical assembly drawings, which required experience and advanced mechanical skills but don’t offer any electrical and automation detail. Or they had static procedures that gave limited sense of exactly which actions are needed. With Toscotec’s E-Learning, we go from that level of abstraction and compartmentalized information to the reality of on demand, in the field, motion demonstrated, access to any information (mechanical, electrical, and control-related) in an easy to follow and immediate manner.
What does continuous update mean and why does it matter?
Gabriele Belli: Toscotec custom develops the training using the project specific 3D drawings of its technology in order to guarantee that the information given matches the actual machine installed at the mill. For operators and maintenance personnel on site, it is vital that the user manual, the topic-based Training Presentations and E-Learning are spot on to what’s actually in front of them. We are in charge of continuous information updates in the Training Center, and it is a task we carry out daily. If there is an engineering change in the field, we can easily adjust the online material to match. So anytime someone goes online to view the information, the person is assured they are accessing the absolute latest and greatest design version.
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