Manitowoc expands training center in São Paulo

Located in the Lapa district, the updated facility has doubled its capacity and gained a new advanced crane simulator for technical and operations practices.

Manitowoc has unveiled its upgraded training center in São Paulo, Brazil. Located in the Lapa district, the facility has doubled its capacity and is now the largest training space for Manitowoc in Latin America. The expansion is part of Manitowoc’s strategy to enhance customer support while meeting a growing demand for technician training within the region.

The updated facility has gained an additional advanced crane simulator, a new classroom, and another instructor. The simulators are used to help technicians practice a wide range of actions such as troubleshooting, maintenance procedures, and operational system testing (including EPIC, Canbus, and Crane Control System or CCS operating systems) across all Manitowoc products. These simulators are equivalent to those at Manitowoc’s training facilities in the U.S. and Germany, and considered some of the most advanced in the lifting industry.

According to Carlos Batista, training manager for Manitowoc Latin America, the training center will offer different types of courses throughout the year. Classes are provided to dealers, end users, and Manitowoc staff across Latin America in three languages: Portuguese, Spanish, and English.Participants receive a Manitowoc qualification at the end of each session. Batista highlighted that the Brazilian training program was designed to cover the same content offered in alternate centers worldwide, with a focus on the most popular models and issues in the Latin American region. For example, one of the new offerings in São Paulo is the GMK6.3 class, focused on MTU engines and Mercedes transmissions, both found on Grove GMK cranes. The class was created to address the shortage of technicians fully trained in these technologies in the region and facilitate access to diagnostic tools. With proper training, rather than waiting 2-3 weeks to get their engines fixed, technicians can do that themselves in 2-3 hours.

Batista also explained that with a range of the latest Manitowoc crane models making their way to Latin America over the last few years, customers want to remain updated on new operational systems. They are also interested in understanding how they can maximize crane utilization and maintain high performance on job sites. “For our lattice boom crawler crane customers, the exciting news is that we now offer a very advanced simulator for those models and have an in-house crawler crane instructor, which will allow us to really enhance our training capabilities on these machines as well,” he said.

Angelo Furlan, the new lattice boom crawler crane instructor in São Paulo, explained that classes are also held at customers’ facilities by special request. However, in those cases, hands-on activities involving machines’ hydraulic, electrical, and pneumatic systems are practiced using equipment provided by customers instead of simulators. “More and more customers in Latin America have realized that they must have competent, well-trained technicians as part of their staff to continue growing their business. It’s key to have employees who can think quickly on their feet in case there are issues with one of their cranes,” Furlan said. “Having that in-house expertise translates into reduced machine downtime and higher productivity on the jobsite.”

Josh Garrington, global training manager for Manitowoc, said that the company has seen a 350% increase in the number of students in Brazil over the last few years, necessitating the urgent expansion of that facility. The São Paulo location — a major South American transportation hub — is the fastest growing Manitowoc training center for mobile cranes and crawler cranes in the world. There are six in total: São Paulo (Brazil), Monterrey (Mexico), Shady Grove (USA), Manitowoc (USA), Wilhelmshaven (Germany), and Dubai (UAE).

“Service technicians are the heart and soul of Manitowoc’s business, and that’s why we have allocated more resources into training programs over the last few years, including the implementation of high-tech simulators and upgraded materials,” Garrington explained. “With that, we are aiming to have more people better trained and in a shorter timeframe. Our new QuickStart program, for example, was designed to reduce the time that it takes a technician to become well-versed on certain crane types from 3-5 years to less than 18 months. This will be a game-changer for our customers, especially in Brazil, where the used crane market is booming.”