Some organizations have realized the benefits of simulation and emulation to test the operation of a unit or an overall system. However, beyond aerospace and military applications, the marriage of simulation/emulation and training has not fared nearly as well. Polytron Inc., an integration and training firm based in Norcross, GA, along with its partner, E2M, is one of few companies who is realizing this value and has made the appropriate commitments to develop and integrate emulation technology in their training processes.

Unfortunately, training in the packaging and manufacturing environment is still plagued with service technicians who “train” when time allows; organizations who provide “hands-on training” on a system that is not operational; trainees who are open to learn only that which they believe affects their job. These factors negatively impact the effectiveness of training, decrease the likelihood of knowledge retention and overall understanding, and in most cases negate the return on training investment dollars.

Now, imagine a training event structured around participative tasks where you are able to spend time in the classroom testing specific scenarios on a “live system.” Imagine an event where you are encouraged to make mistakes, because resolving those mistakes is the most direct path to learning. Imagine a training event where line downtime occurs without impacting production. These are the desired descriptors of a successful training event integrated with up-to-date and modern emulation technologies.

What is emulation in the context of the Packaging & Manufacturing industry?

Think, flight simulator. Instead of sitting in a cockpit, the Packaging & Manufacturing trainee sits in front of their RSViewSE Human Machine Interface (HMI) and interacts with actual HMI control buttons that send signals to a ControlLogix Controller (PLC). Instead of a large screen or heads-up display providing topographical views, enemy aircraft, or other typical obstacles pilots might encounter during plane navigation, operators and technicians view packages conveying down a computer generated scaled model of their system while encountering obstacles introduced by the trainer. And finally, instead of a mainframe computer making pinpoint decisions based on input from the pilot, spatial information from the model, and the control response of a plane, PolySimSM, E2M/Polytron’s proprietary emulation and data-management model, provides direct package/process control feedback based on typical system variables, i.e., conveyor speeds, package sizes, conveyor geometry, machine functionality, etc.

How does emulation help adult learners?

In school, most children are motivated to listen and learn by external factors such as teachers, grades, parents, etc. However, as we age, those external motivations are replaced by internal goals and/or desires. In work related environments, such as the packaging and manufacturing industry, the main goal or desire is to apply what is learned to problems operators or technicians face day-to-day. Typical training classes in the manufacturing industry consist of trainers describing the functionality of major components, reviewing general system operation, and analyzing troubleshooting scenarios. These topics are covered using PowerPoint slides, manuals, and in those cases where the line is actually operational, hands-on exercises. Unfortunately, to describe, review, and analyze alone often fall short when training adults in the packaging and manufacturing industry. A PolySimsm Emulation fills those gaps because it addresses the internal goals and desires of adult learners: it is relevant to their situation, assists in solving a given problem, and draws upon the learners’ experiences. Emulation provides a means to demonstrate relevancy, illustrate importance of the subject matter, develop creative solutions to problems, and create a path to draw upon experiential data.

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