"Today, no forest machine owner would even consider putting a poorly trained operator behind the controls of an advanced forest machine," says Roland Lundqvist at Komatsu Forest. "This is down to both safety and profitability, as a modern-day harvester operator makes more decisions per unit of time than a fighter pilot."
Komatsu Forest will soon deliver its one-hundredth forest machine simulator. These simulators have long been developed together with fellow Umeå firm Oryx Simulations, which is now a world-leader in simulation platforms for the training of vehicle operators.
"A forest machine is worth several hundred thousand dollars and that means new operators must know what they are doing from the first day on the job, as downtime is expensive. What's more, it is important that both new and experienced operators know how to drive efficiently,” Lundqvist explains.
Komatsu Forest and Oryx began their collaboration way back in 1999, when the developer was hived off from Umeå University. Common to all the simulators is the use of advanced calculation techniques to create simulations that can be used in the training of forest machine operators, heavy excavator operators, and harbor crane operators. In the future, surgeons may be added to the list.
"Our collaboration with Valmet was decisive for our business as it helped get the simulator to market, and we continue to build our products together with our customers, which include Komatsu Forest, ABB, Volvo, and Atlas Copco," explains Derny Häggström, CEO of Oryx.
There are a number of different Valmet simulators; more, in fact, than any other forest machine manufacturer can boast. The latest addition to the lineup of advanced Valmet simulators is based on Valmet's MaxiXplorer control system, the most modern harvester control system on the market.
MaxiXplorer is found on Valmet's new harvesters, though in the simulator you can even test other equipment, such as Valmet forwarders and harvesting heads. The simulator has a 50-inch screen.
The Valmet simulators are sold through Komatsu Forest's global sales organization. Customers are primarily forestry schools, large forestry companies, universities, and research companies. One of Komatsu Forest's most recent deliveries was to the important educational institute Professionalnoye uchilischche 14 in the Khabarovsk region of eastern Russia.
Today, the institute educates some 300 specialists each year, from forest workers and machine operators to road construction workers. The course begins with theoretical knowledge and machine operation skills, progressing to training in machine maintenance and service with practical exercises on real machines.
Modern simulators for harvesters, forwarders, and feller-bunchers can considerably improve the course.
"The Valmet simulators will help us train even more high-class specialists," says Viktor Bobin, who heads the institute.
Facts: Oryx Simulations
Oryx Simulations is a world-leader in the development of vehicle simulators, developing its products in close concert with researchers from Umeå University.
The company has 34 employees (including the 13 who work for the sister company Algoryx) and reported SEK 35 million in sales for 2009. The company began its operations in 1999, after being hived off from Umeå University in collaboration with Valmet. Oryx won Umeå Municipality's Business of the Year Award 2009.