CM Labs’ New Forklift Simulator Provides Operators Advanced Training Exercises
CM Labs Simulations, developer of Vortex training simulators, recently unveiled its new Forklift Simulator Training Pack, which allows institutions to go beyond minimum training requirements. With the Forklift Training simulations operators can prepare for certification and learn advanced exercises like loading a ramp. The Forklift Training Pack joins a full fleet of lifting equipment simulation training options from CM Labs.
“The forklift is the most popular piece of heavy equipment, but it’s also the one with the highest incident rates,” said Julien Richer-Lanciault, product manager at CM Labs. “Because the forklift can be extremely unstable, overturns are common; in fact, it’s leading cause of fatalities involving lift trucks. With our training pack students acquire a thorough understanding of the machine’s limits so they can safely operate a forklift and avoid such hazards.”
CM Labs’ patented Smart Training Technology ensures that the forklift accurately replicates machine instability when executing maneuvers like tight turns with the load high in the air, driving down a slope with a load and rapid braking with a load. Just like on the actual forklift, operators get a real feel of the machine's instability when handling goods. Visual aids within the simulation such as the mini-map, load calculations, and stability triangle, which depicts the center of gravity of the forklift during operation, provide users with additional tools to achieve success. A rear-view camera and mirrors deliver an optimal field of view for maximum situational awareness.
Students are challenged with progressive learning exercises that cover everything from basic to advanced skills. Operators learn the fundamentals such as driving around objects and inclines, aligning the forks with the pallet and handling different loads, while also being exposed to more complex scenarios like working in confined spaces as well as driving with and positioning a ramp. Built-in certification exercises ensure operators receive the most comprehensive and practical training to better prepare for the real thing. Customizable scoring allows users to weight each metric for objective and standardized evaluation.
The Forklift Simulator Training Pack is designed for CM Labs’ Edge series of simulators, including the portable Vortex Edge Plus as well as the motion-enabled Vortex Edge Max. It can also be bundled with CM Labs’ full fleet of earthmoving and lifting equipment training packs so training organizations can easily provide comprehensive education on heavy equipment.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.