Improving your Staff’s Troubleshooting Skills

How well your staff troubleshoots can effect the bottom line of your organization. Some of the impacts could be:

• Downtime of equipment. In some cases, equipment unexpectedly failing can cost the company a lot of money. Production stops, employees may need to be sent home, and even penalties may apply if the equipment cannot be brought back on line quickly.
• Cost of replacement parts. Replacing only defective parts can save money.
• Repeat Business. The quality and efficiency of the work, especially in troubleshooting, can directly affect whether a customer comes back to you or goes to your competitor.

Chances are, your staff's troubleshooting skills are at different levels of proficiency. You may have some top-notch troubleshooters. You may also have some who have had little or no training or experience in troubleshooting. Still, others may be reasonably proficient but have not had the opportunities to practice and improve their skills.

Simutech's Electrical Troubleshooting Skills Series is a great tool for improving the troubleshooting skills of all your staff. It not only teaches a systematic troubleshooting approach for those new to troubleshooting, but provides an opportunity for experienced tradespersons to practice and improve their troubleshooting skills.

• Cost effective – When comparing this training with other types of training, not only is the cost per person of the programs very reasonable, you can eliminate travel costs, and potentially reduce time off the job.

• Fits your schedule – These electrical training programs are flexible and can be used anytime, anywhere. No need to schedule your staff on a course away from the company. Have them learn these skills right at your location when it is convenient for you.

• Assess your staff’s troubleshooting skills – These programs have a reporting system that not only tracks the completion of each fault but also records the steps taken to solve each fault. This can be very useful for assessing the troubleshooting skills of your existing staff or of potential new hires.

• Manage the troubleshooting training – These electrical training programs come with instructor resource tools and guides that make it easy for you to monitor and manage the progress of your staff’s use of these programs.

• Highly effective training – containing the following features:

• Practical Hands Approach - Highly realistic simulations are used throughout these programs allowing you to practice your skills in a safe environment
• Learn new troubleshooting techniques and tips – A systematic Troubleshooting Approach is taught in these programs through the use of graphics, animations and practical examples. This approach can be applied to any electrical troubleshooting problem or circuit.
• Benefit from an expert’s experience – These programs contain a section where an expert guides you through a number of faults following the systematic 5 Step Troubleshooting Approach.

 

• Recognize good Troubleshooters – Assessing a person’s troubleshooting skills can sometimes be difficult. These programs can make this job a little easier by providing reports that can be used to assess their skill. Once the programs have been successfully completed, the participant can print out a Certificate of Completion.
  
  

Which programs to use?

For most situations, it is best to use the workstation version of the complete Electrical Troubleshooting Skills Series. The Series contains a total of 7 “Guided” faults and 68 “Test Your Skill” faults on three different circuits. This provides ample practice on a good variety of circuits. This variety will make it easier to apply your skills on the circuits and equipment found at your location.

The workstation version comes with Instructor Resources including instructor guides for each program and an administration program to help manage user reports. Depending on the number of staff and locations you may require more than one copy of the Series or a network version.

The Troubleshooting Skills Series consists of three programs:

Troubleshooting – Basic Techniques is the first in the series. It introduces the Systematic 5 Step Troubleshooting Approach and contains a lighting circuit simulation to practice this approach.

Troubleshooting – Control Circuits is the second in the series and builds on the Basic Techniques program. It contains relay logic circuit simulation where you can develop and practice your troubleshooting skills.

Troubleshooting – Motor Controls is the third in the series and builds on the Basic Techniques program. It contains motorized garage door circuit simulation where you can develop and practice your troubleshooting skills.

How to use the programs?

These programs assume the participant has an understanding of the basic principles of electricity. They should also have a basic understanding of how control circuit components such as relays, switches, and contactors work.

The best way to use this program will vary depending on the company’s organization, size, location(s) etc. the following are some general tips for using the program in your organization.

Tips for setting up the program

• The programs should be installed on a computer that is in a quiet location where the user will be free from distractions.
• A person should be designated as a resource contact for the program. This person would provide assistance to the person working through the program if required. You may wish to perform this role or delegate it to someone else.
  

Tips for managing the program

• An instructor resource CD is included with the program. Be sure to install this on the same computer as the program is installed.
• The Admin program allows you to view all you staff’s results and print reports
• The Instructor Guides are available through the Admin Program. You may want to print them out and include them in your binder. However, please keep this information secure as it does contain the solutions to all the faults.
  

Tips for working through the program

• Before beginning the program, provide to each person who will use the program any troubleshooting processes or procedure which your organization uses.
• Inexperienced staff should work through each program in the order it is presented starting with Basic Techniques. They should not skip sections or move on to the next program until it is completed.
• Experienced staff has more flexibility for working through the programs. They do not necessarily need to start at the beginning but they should review the content in the Basic Techniques section which provides information on the Systematic Troubleshooting Approach used in these programs. They should also review the section on “Using the Tools” found in each program to understand how the simulator works.
  

Tips for assessing your staff's troubleshooting skills

These programs have a reporting system that can be very useful for assessing the troubleshooting skills of your staff or of potential new hires.

• For staff working through the complete program, review their summary report. The report shows which faults have been completed and how may failed attempts were completed. The smaller the number of failed attempts the better their skill. The number of failed attempts should decrease as they work through the programs.
• For these staff you can also review their troubleshooting steps by viewing the detailed report. Here you can assess their troubleshooting techniques and approach.
• You can also assign specific faults (see the instructor guide for information on how to do this). This is useful for assessing someone’s skill without having to work through the whole program. The best process for this:
  • Allow the participant to work through the “Using the Tools” section in order to familiarize themselves with the simulation tools
  • Allow them to familiarize themselves with the circuit operation
  • Pick an appropriate fault. (The instructor guide has a listing of all faults.)
  • Assign the fault on the simulation.
  • When the participant has finished their attempt, review their detailed report to determine their troubleshooting approach.
  • You may want to try several faults of varying difficulty.