McConnellsburg, Pa. — Oct. 20, 2014 — JLG Industries, Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation company [NYSE:OSK] and a global leading manufacturer of aerial work platforms and telescopic material handlers, has added a lift and access equipment simulator to its arsenal of teaching tools at its recently expanded training center in McConnellsburg, Pa. The simulator employs advanced gamification learning to familiarize operators with the controls and operation of the JLG^® 800S telescopic boom lift and the JLG^® G10-55A telehandler. It offers three training sessions on each piece of equipment, including controls familiarization and two operation scenarios (beginner and advanced levels). 

“All of the controls work just like those on a boom lift or telehandler. Two joysticks allow an operator to maneuver height and reach, and also drive the machines,” said Richard Smith, JLG Industries’ senior director of product training. “Everything is to scale, and the module offers two views: one from the operator’s perspective and a second external side view of the equipment. The simulator helps reduce the learning curve when a user first operates a piece of JLG equipment, as it replicates working with an actual machine on an actual job site.”

The equipment simulator depicts JLG’s proving grounds at its customer training center, a four-acre tract of land that includes obstacle courses designed to train participants in the operation of JLG equipment. The proving grounds recreate a working construction site, where operators are assigned loads to move and obstacles and hazards to maneuver around and over, including slopes, grades, and telephone poles with simulated power lines. The proving grounds were designed to help participants master equipment operation as they learn to overcome some of the more difficult challenges encountered on job sites.

The equipment simulator is one part of JLG’s training offerings at McConnellsburg, which also includes e-learning and “train-the-trainer” programs. Users registered with JLG University can also access the equipment simulator remotely via personal computer and, by the end of 2014, using an iPad^®. 

For more information about training opportunities from JLG, please visit www.jlg.com/en/training-14.