If you are a forklift operator looking to enhance your skills or questioning whether being a forklift driver is a good job, then look no further. With the new VR forklift simulator wave emerging in today’s market, you can get to grips with what life is like when operating these fine pieces of machinery.
Primarily used in transportation and warehousing environments, you can really decide whether a new career in the forklift industry is just right for you with the VR forklift simulator. In this article we will explore the major advantages to adopt VR forklift training and how this can improve your skills as an employee or help you as an employer train your staff in a more modernised, safer and cheaper environment.
First of all let’s explore what VR training is. VR stands for ‘Virtual Reality’ and is the computerised simulation of real life scenarios. Users of VR training are shown a 360 degree environment in which they can learn specific tasks. Using hardware and controls identical to the real devices, the user can improve their skills in a realistic and safe environment. Virtual Reality forklift training offers basic education as well as training-programs for highly experienced forklift operators or novice forklift operators looking to kick start their career.
Now that we know what a VR training is, let’s look at the major advantages of a VR forklift simulator:
Safer
The biggest advantage of Virtual Reality forklift training is that it is much safer than regular forklift training. This is solely due to there being no real forklift trucks required with inexperienced forklift drivers present. With VR forklift simulators, the risk of injury or damage to business is close to zero as trainees cannot harm others, themselves, machinery or stock. In addition, the trainee operators get their education in a non-moving hardware device further improving the safety levels of such training. They only need to put on the VR glasses, take their place behind the controls and execute the software instructions as presented to them.
More Efficient And Modern
Forklift operators can be trained much faster and easier due to the incorporation of modern VR training as the hardware is available internally at the fingertips of the organisation. As a result, staff can conduct their training at any time of the day with no need to schedule expensive external instructors. Furthermore, The most modern technology ensures better results as forklift operators are much more enthusiastic about Virtual Reality training than regular forklift training and want to achieve the best results in the organisation. This is due to the excitement factor and desire to learn new techniques through continued muscle memory to make the training more engaging and lifelike for the employee.
Faster
VR forklift simulators expedite the training process and accelerates the learning curve. Once muscle memory is built from regular training, the transition to a real machine will be a lot smoother. As a result, the amount of time needed to train is drastically driven down. It is said that training for a new reach forklift operator can be greatly reduced from 45 hours to 12 hours (depending on the set-up and size of the class attending).
Cheaper
It is said that If you train more than 50 operators a year, the return on investment of buying a simulator will become worthwhile almost instantaneously. The purchase value is then lower than if you choose to have employees trained by external companies. The use of VR will reduce carbon emission and petrol use which further improves the efficiency and cuts costs. It has been proven that incorporating VR forklift training to your employees directly reduces annual training fuel costs by as much as £35,000 thanks to their efficient and eco-friendly approach.
More Challenging
Forklift employees find Virtual Reality training much more challenging than your average forklift training. This is because it offers the most modern technology and the challenging elements in the software where the desire to make as few mistakes as possible is present. Similarly, It is not a simple bland paper-based instructional course that can sometimes be incredibly boring for employees which further contributes to the challenging factors that arise with VR forklift training.
Customisable
Forklift simulator programs can be completely adapted to match the needs of the trainee or business. Every forklift scenario can be recreated so that operators can be prepared for any problems that could occur when operating a forklift. Warehouse lay-out, specific fork attachments, danger zones and manoeuvres can all be replicated.
More Accessible
Thanks to forklift simulator products, employees can wish to receive training at all and any time regardless of age, experience, education etc. In most countries, the minimum age to operate a forklift is 18 years, but there are no minimum ages for virtual reality training. So one could already be trained from the age of 16.
Data Driven And Screening
A handy feature that VR forklift training possesses is the use of direct reports and feedback capabilities. The operator can continuously hear what went right or wrong. In conjunction to the feedback and reporting element of VR forklift training, this then allows employers to initiate a screening process whereby the performance of forklift operator. Build the skills for forklift trainees.
We hope we have enlightened you to the benefits and new emergence of VR forklift simulators. Adopting this method of training could prove beneficial and help you yield great improvements for your forklift operators and employee efficiency and satisfaction.