Learning lab now in action

The electronics mobile learning lab is in use for the first time this week at Western Excelsior. The lab will be hosting classes until April at the site.

Mary Shinn/The Mancos Times

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The electronics mobile learning lab is in use for the first time this week at Western Excelsior. The lab will be hosting classes until April at the site.

Mary Shinn/The Mancos Times

Members of the maintenance group at Western Excelsior started class Monday inside the electronics mobile learning lab at their plant.

Mary Shinn/The Mancos Times

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Members of the maintenance group at Western Excelsior started class Monday inside the electronics mobile learning lab at their plant.

Mary Shinn/The Mancos Times

Mary Shinn/The Mancos Times @Photo Cutline: A front loader carries aspen logs to a speciality material handler.

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Mary Shinn/The Mancos Times @Photo Cutline: A front loader carries aspen logs to a speciality material handler.

Mary Shinn/The Mancos Times @Photo Cutline: An operator brings more aspen logs in to the chop saw.

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Mary Shinn/The Mancos Times @Photo Cutline: An operator brings more aspen logs in to the chop saw.

Kyle Hanson/Courtesy @MT Photo cutline: Long-time employee Rudolpho Murillo preparing excelsior fibers for bailing. Excelsior is made by shredding aspen.

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Kyle Hanson/Courtesy @MT Photo cutline: Long-time employee Rudolpho Murillo preparing excelsior fibers for bailing. Excelsior is made by shredding aspen.

Kyle Hanson/Courtesy @MT Photo Cutline: Excelsior fibers (shredded Aspen) flowing to the main conveyor from one of the many excelsior machines.

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Kyle Hanson/Courtesy @MT Photo Cutline: Excelsior fibers (shredded Aspen) flowing to the main conveyor from one of the many excelsior machines.

Mary Shinn/The Mancos Times @MT Photo Cutline: A material handler moves a log on to a live deck, from the perspective close to that of an operator.

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Mary Shinn/The Mancos Times @MT Photo Cutline: A material handler moves a log on to a live deck, from the perspective close to that of an operator.

Mary Shinn/The Mancos Times @MT Photo Cutline: A material handler moves a log onto a live deck, which is similar to a conveyor, on its way to the chop saw.

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Mary Shinn/The Mancos Times @MT Photo Cutline: A material handler moves a log onto a live deck, which is similar to a conveyor, on its way to the chop saw.

Mary Shinn/The Mancos Times. @MT Photo Cutline: The dust created from making excelsior is gathered by vacuum in the airflow system and. When the dust comes off the conveyor just outside the building it is blown into the air and contributes to the local air pollution. This is one of the areas where the company is looking to make improvements by installing a walking floor trailor that would hold the dust. The dust on the ground is eventually turned into mulch.

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Mary Shinn/The Mancos Times. @MT Photo Cutline: The dust created from making excelsior is gathered by vacuum in the airflow system and. When the dust comes off the conveyor just outside the building it is blown into the air and contributes to the local air pollution. This is one of the areas where the company is looking to make improvements by installing a walking floor trailor that would hold the dust. The dust on the ground is eventually turned into mulch.

Kyle Hanson/Courtesy Photo Credit: Team Leader, Senon Martinez guides logs towards the splitter.

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Kyle Hanson/Courtesy Photo Credit: Team Leader, Senon Martinez guides logs towards the splitter.

A new mobile learning lab rolled into Western Excelsior for the first time this week.

By providing more training in electronic programing and circuitry, the company hopes to encourage employees to come up with new solutions to old problems and work toward greater automation.

“We really don’t want a person doing a job that doesn’t take advantage of their humanness,” said Kyle Hanson, the business unit manager. Western Excelsior makes erosion control mats out of straw, aspen and synthetic materials. They also manufacture wood pellets for stoves.

This is the first time the $300,000 electronics lab has been used since it was unveiled in November.

Southwest Colorado Community College’s lab, housed in 48-foot trailer, is equipped with hands-on tools to teach the basics of circuitry, programming and other skills and hosting classes for employees once a month through April.

On Monday the maintenance team started with the basics of electric circuits and will eventually learn to read the blueprints of an electrical system.

Hanson hopes that by the end of training the company will have collaborated on one of the automation opportunities with the instructor and constructed a prototype of a new system that will help cut out repetitive labor.

Hanson also hopes to do more and more on-site manufacturing of needed parts.

The training was funded by a $36,990 Colorado First and Existing Industry Grant. Part of the money was also used for in-house training to identify areas in the production line that could be improved.

The mobile lab is one of three at the local community college. The college also has one for mechanical systems and welding. The welding lab has been used at three mines regionally including one in Utah since November.

“The best way for these workforces to get their training, is to get it on location,” said Tomas German-Palacios, operations coordinator in Pueblo Community College’s Economic and Workforce Development Division.

Pueblo Community College started using mobile learning labs in 2005, and German-Palacios said he believes that having the training labs locally will be an economic draw.

“It makes the workforce of this area much more valuable and can potentially bring in additional companies in the future,” he said.