Power management company Eaton (
www.eaton.com) has recently completed a major investment programme at its UK training centre in Havant.
The company has been offering hydraulics education around the world for over 60 years, built on the heritage of Vickers — well known in the hydraulics business.
However, fluid power is evolving, as it embraces the challenges and the opportunities brought by the increasing complexity of electronic controls and by Industry 4.0.
While Eaton is engineering products and solutions in this new arena, it also recognises the importance of ensuring that hydraulic professionals — whether in sales, engineering, maintenance or quality — have the correct knowledge to be able to reap the rewards that new smart hydraulic technologies can bring.
The new facility in Havant, offering hands-on training for systems and products, demonstrates the company’s commitment to industry education.
Training manager Graham Sanders said: “Here at Eaton Hydraulics, we are dedicated to ensuring that both our staff and partners are ‘fully rounded’ when it comes to knowledge in the field of hydraulics.
"Keeping pace in a rapidly evolving market can be difficult; we feel it’s important that companies such as Eaton, which are seen as leaders in smart hydraulics, offer as much support as possible.
"New technologies can bring many benefits, such as increased efficiencies leading to reduced power consumption, increased productivity and less down-time. In my mind, there can be no doubt that properly trained personnel can add real value to their employer’s organisation.”
Catering for up three courses at a time, training programmes are based on decades of experience gained in the field, and Eaton instructors are all fluid-power specialists.
The hydraulics industry has recently made large strides towards formalising the educational requirements of its workers, especially in ensuring that people can work safely with today’s increasingly complex machines, and the Education & Training committee of the BFPA has produced a set of Minimum Education Recommendations for Hydraulics, which the Eaton hydraulics Training Centre will fully support.
Eaton is a power management company with 2017 sales of $20.4 billion. It provides energy-efficient solutions that help its customers to effectively manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power more efficiently, safely and sustainably.