You took the course and you passed the exam. The freshly printed certification hangs proudly above your desk and an electronic copy of it is displayed in your social media profile and email signature. You have crossed a major milestone! You have received a raise and a promotion! But, does this mean you are done learning or do you need some refresher training?
Certification
Certification is incredibly important. It shows you have an understanding of the core concepts as defined by the standard you are being certified to. You have passed an objective test. Certification is a starting point, not an end point. You have met the minimal criteria, you have jumped through an important hoop, but this does not necessarily mean you have mastered the topics or proven you can apply them in the field.
The 70% ers
Something that has always bothered me as an instructor are the 70% ers. These are people who took the training course and passed their exam in the 70 – 80% range. The threshold for certification is 70%, so they have gained a certification BUT in a 100 question test, they still got 20 – 30 answers wrong. They passed the exam, but, in my opinion, they haven’t mastered the material.
My biggest concern is a 70% er who proudly places their certification on the wall of their office and on their social media platform and then rests on their laurels and stops learning. “I don’t need to take another course, I already have my certificate.” I picture these people dumping their course manuals in the recycling bin as soon as they receive their certificate and never taking another course in their lives.
Even if you performed well on the exam, we think it is worthwhile to come back for refresher training. You can revisit the topics and firm up your foundation.
Refresher Training is Essential
What I prefer to see is people taking the course, getting their certification and then going back to the plant to try to implement what they have learned. As they try to apply the concepts, they will inevitably encounter problems they cannot solve. They will have blurry recollections of having learned something but they won’t remember what it means. There will be questions and there will be doubts.
A benefit of refresher training is that you come back and sit the course again, but this time you have a long list of questions and doubts that you want to dispel. During the course you pay attention in a different way. You see things you didn’t see the first time through. You ask more pointed questions and you receive clear guidance. You leave the course with a deeper sense of confidence based on understanding.
ISO Category I or Category II?
Category I certification is not required to take Cat II. Students with an engineering background who already have some experience with vibration can skip Cat I and go right to Cat II. However, I usually recommend they take Cat I first. Here’s why:
First of all, some training companies (who are owned by mega investment corporations who only care about $$) will push people to start with Cat I so that they can sell more courses. Some of them purposefully don’t teach anything above and beyond the curriculum so that the student has to go to Cat II to learn what they need to know. This is not the case with Zenco. Our goal is to meet and exceed the ISO standard but, we also teach people where they are at. In other words, if you get the core concepts and you want to go deeper, we’ll go as deep as you want to go.
Each student is taught at the level they are at and are given the support they need. I’ve had PhD students in Cat I who left feeling like they learned a ton, and in the same class I’ve had millwrights I’m helping with algebra. Because our classes are relatively small it’s easy to teach one person something, and tell someone else not to worry about it if it is beyond their current understanding and is not part of the core curriculum.
The main reason that I suggest people start with Cat I is because, after Cat I they go back to the plant, they try to implement what they learn, they hit some roadblocks, they have some doubts etc. Then they come to Cat II, see the same materials again, but with greater depth, and it really drives home the concepts. In other words, it’s the repetition that matters. We make sure they really have a strong foundation in Cat I and then we expand it in Cat II.
Next Level or Refresher Training?
If someone started with Cat II, instead of doing a Cat II refresher courses, they might prefer to move on to Category III. I understand the desire to have a higher level of certification and to move forward in this way. I fully support that. However, it should be understood that Cat III covers different topics that might be less relevant to some people.
Cat I and II are about condition based maintenance. This means testing the same machines month after month, trending the data, looking for common faults, writing reports etc. Cat III focuses more on special tests, transient analysis, journal bearings, resonance and structural vibration. Although I highly support anyone who wishes to take Cat III and I definitely think people should move forward and expand their knowledge, in practice Cat II concepts might be more relevant to a lot of peoples day to day jobs. If your primary role is running routes and looking at data on the same rotating machines month after month then a Cat II refresher course might serve you better than a Cat III certification.
I recently taught a large group of Cat III students whose main job is to remotely monitor vibration data from wireless sensors. Although they did great in Cat III, none of them are going to visit a plant to balance a fan or to do modal analysis on a structure. When I quizzed them about the patterns of common faults they will inevitably encounter in their day to day data analysis tasks I was a bit surprised to find that they were not 100% up to speed on this. My conclusion – it’s great that you are now Cat III certified, BUT, the thing that will help you most in your day to day work would be a Cat II refresher course. At this stage, it’s not about getting the certificate, it’s about really mastering the topics so you do a better job.
Point being, even if you are certified at Cat III, it might be a good idea to re-sit Cat II, especially if its been a few years since you took it.
Technology is Evolving at Light Speed!
Some of the other training companies haven’t updated their materials in 20 years, but Zenco updates the course materials continuously. Our competitors show you magazine articles from the 1970s and reminisce about collecting vibration data with oscilloscopes with nary a mention of newer technologies such as video motion amplification and wireless sensors. At Zenco, as soon as we learn about a new proven technology, we master it and include it in the courses.
The bottom line: Technology is changing faster than ever. We have ever new solutions to old problems. It’s good to get some refresher training now and again to make sure you are keeping up.
How Often Should you Refresh?
How frequently should you re-take the courses? It depends on you and where you are in your career. If it’s been 5 years since you took any course, I would definitely take one! If you are relatively new to the technology, you might want to start out by taking some course (either the next level or a refresher) every year for a few years to make sure you really have strong foundation.
On-Site Informal Training and Program Audits
If you have reached a certain level of certification, wish to clear up doubts and make sure you are doing things correctly, another option is to have me come on-site for some informal training and a program audit. We can look at your plant, your database, the technology you are using, your alarm settings, your test points, your processes for analyzing data, reporting, creating work orders and following up.
For example, in Cat I we talk about where on the machine to place the measurements. During a site visit we can check where you are actually taking the measurements on your machines. In Cat II we talk about various settings on the data collector that define the test (Fmax, LOR, Averages etc). In a program audit we can look how your tests are configured and make sure they are correct.
This format works with better with fewer people – say 1 – 6. If you have 20 people involved in the program then a classroom setting works better.
This is another way to gain confidence and make sure you are doing things correctly and “Getting The Most from Your Vibration Monitoring Program.” Didn’t someone write a book about that? You bet they did! Get mentoring and get your program audited by the guy who wrote the book! ( Paperback ), (eBook)
Refresher Training Details
If you wish to re-sit a course, just sign up like you would if it was your first time. The only difference is that you have the option to not show up on the last day for the exam. If it’s been awhile since you last took the course, we’d recommend taking the exam just to see how you do. It’s good to test your knowledge again, even if you passed the exam in the past. Click here to see the course schedule: https://zencovibrations.com/shop
