IN THE DOCK
BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS
How are advances in technology helping ports to address labour shortages, improve skills and enhance safety? Devon Van de Kletersteeg, product growth manager at CM Labs, gives his insights.
n an industry beset by skilled labour shortages, training has never been more important. And simulators are not only helping address that by upskilling traditional workers – they are breaking down barriers, too. “You’re able to give a lot of opportunity to people who wouldn’t have considered it before,” says Devon Van de Kletersteeg, product growth manager at CM Labs. “This could be people for whom there would have been a psychological barrier to entry. So, when you’re talking about underserved demographics, those could be minorities, and they could be women as well. “It breaks down the barrier and says, ‘Hey,
I
listen, this thing that you always thought was for other people, you can do it, too. And it’s not as intimidating as you think it is because here’s the real experience’. It gets you over the hump and makes you start thinking about it properly as a career.”
Devon Van de Kletersteeg
A simulator can also help management
teams identify potential talent from within their existing labour pool. A point of interest he identifies is that the simulator is available 24/7, which can open up new opportunities. Traditionally in a port, operators tend to start their careers on lower value equipment such as an internal transfer vehicle, then progressing to an RTG or reach stacker. Only once the operator has proven their competency does the employer place them in an STS crane. However, a simulator can transform that tried and tested approach.
“What having a training simulator does is, it gives you the opportunity to try out things that you wouldn’t have tried out previously,” says Van de Kletersteeg. “That applies to the individual and it applies to the training managers as well. “The training managers in some cases may spot individuals who have potential and instead of simply saying, in a traditional setting, ‘let’s try them on that piece of equipment which has low risk,’ now they can say, ‘let’s go with a no risk approach and invite them to come into the training simulator, maybe on an off day or at the end of their shift. Let’s see how good they are at managing certain aspects of operating a crane to kind of pre-vet them for a position.’ “If you find out you have good hand-eye
coordination, you’re not afraid of heights, and we think there’s a lot of potential for you, then, all of a sudden, that opens up a whole new career opportunity for you as an individual. We think that is a definite positive on a personal level but also for the organisation because now you’re able to spot people who may have otherwise gone unseen. Now you identify them as the next people to go into a particular training programme.”
vi | June 2025 |
www.hoistmagazine.com
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