Company Announcement - In May 2013, Komatsu Australia opened its KTEC (Komatsu Technical Education Centre) facility in Brisbane – one of the most advanced technical training facilities for mining, earthmoving and utility equipment in the region. Since then,  KTEC has become the primary training centre for Komatsu’s technicians in Australia and New Zealand.  To date the facility has delivered over 85 training programs and increased Komatsu’s technical capability for more than 300 service technicians.

Based at Komatsu’s Sherwood site in western Brisbane, the facility sits on more than 3 ha of land, offering over 2600 sq m of dedicated training area, including seven classrooms, seven technical laboratories, a large machine operations workshop area and three meeting rooms.  It incorporates a number of simulators and has the ability to work on large scale machines with the largest machine training being for a WA1200 mining loader and the ability to train technicians on up to a 830E dump truck. The courses available through KTEC cover a variety of mining, construction and utility machines including backhoe/loaders, dozers, crushers, dump trucks, excavators (including hybrids), graders and wheel loaders – as well as general systems and technologies. In addition, Komatsu is the only RTO (Registered Training Organisation) with registration to deliver training compliant with UEENEEP022A Disconnect and Reconnect 3.3KV Electric Propulsion Components of Self Propelled Earth Moving Vehicles, to satisfy the requirements for obtaining a restricted electrical permit/license in Western Australia and Queensland.

According to Komatsu Australia’s General Manager People & Strategy, Colin Shaw, KTEC significantly increases the technical capability of the company’s workforce. “This is a major benefit for our customers wherever their machines are located,” he said.
“Through this facility, we can also offer technical or operator training for customers, either at KTEC in Brisbane or on a customer’s site, designed to ensure they can maximise their production and minimise downtime.” All machine-specific training courses offered at KTEC are built around the Komatsu Skills Competency Map, which covers four levels:

• Introduction and general service
• Structure and function
• Testing and adjusting
• Troubleshooting.

“Each level develops and builds the skills and knowledge in the participants, and each level is a pre-requisite to the next,” said Shaw.
Under the KTEC process, Komatsu service technicians go through the company’s Certified Technic Accreditation System which consists of two components: the Learning component and the Accreditation component. “In the learning component, attendees sit through their four levels of training according to our skills competency map,” he said. “In the accreditation component, they then gain the required amount of on-the-job experience, then following an on-site assessment will be given the relevant Certified Technic accreditation.

“As a result, our customers can be assured that our service people are fully competent in the maintenance and repair of  Komatsu machines,” said Shaw. Dean Gaedtke, Komatsu Australia’s Queensland Regional General Manager, said that KTEC had resulted in a significant improvement in service technician’s training and skill levels – something that had been noticed not only by those participating, but also by customers and other Komatsu people. “On my travels around the branches, I am constantly receiving positive feedback on the improvement in our training since KTEC has been established,” he said.

“There is special mention of the purpose-built classrooms, the dedicated workshop bay, as well as the specific laboratories.
“The content of the courses has also received good feedback, because it combines classroom and workshop activities on actual machines. “And the fact that we can now offer CT (Certified Technic) competencies tailored to each individual branch’s specific models is something that has really been welcomed by branch managers. “KTEC has become an important part of our total customer satisfaction experience, ensuring we provide the best-trained OEM support in the industry,” said Gaedtke.