Martin's international education manager, Marc Anderson, was there for the occasion, and explains: "The products are quite complex and the customer base is constantly expanding. There is a huge demand for training and we have ambitious plans for meeting that demand. Today's session is the result of nearly two years of preparation." He went on to add: "We've got a half-dozen courses ready to go. And when we have all the pieces in place, our goal is to be able to certify technicians and installers. Professional training is going to add a lot of value to our products."
"The idea behind Acade·media," says West, "is to use the expertise we have around the world to write courses that can be used throughout Martin. There's no point in every country developing its own courses when Martin has so many great resources to draw on. Sharing material means we'll be able to offer more courses and do more training at a higher level."
Though they had various backgrounds coming into the course, all participants passed the exam at the end of the seven-hour course, which goes into the details of stepper motor control, lamp circuits, and power supplies, before rounding off with maintenance and safety tips. At the end, they had nothing but praise. Graham Lovell from A.C. Lighting summed up: "I'm impressed by the professionalism and seriousness they put into training. This was time well spent."
(Lee Baldock)
