Rockwell Training....Disappointed

I have attended several Rockwell classes in the past and although somewhat pricey I came away feeling I got my money's worth.

Last week I attended a 4 day course on FactoryTalk View ME and Panelview Plus Programming (CCV 204)@ Rockwell in Franklin Tn. and must say it was a big disappointment. We started the class with 8 students, the instructor, and another Rockwell instructor that was sitting in to learn as he would soon be teaching this course. After day 1 two students decided it was so bad they did not return.

The first day started with instructor unable to get his comm settings correct so he could download to PV as we watched via projector. We would cover a section, do the lab and test the project. All students were able to download to PV's but no comms, from PV or FactoryTalk Software, to PLC program that was running in Softlogix 5800.

Day 2 and problems with comms continue. We repeated the process of going over lessons, doing labs but still unable to completely test and get results. Throughout the first 4 hours of the day 2nd instructor is on phone with AB support trying to figure this out. Finally a solution, seems the newer version software with the ghost images that load on laptop had issues so in the install folder was also a .bat file to fix issues. Amazingly the instructor realizes he recieved a email about this a couple weeks ago.

The last 2 days all training aids worked as they should. It was however obvious that the instructor was not well versed in the subject. Many unanswered questions or questions that were answered by other students. Most things he tried to show did not work as intended. He would try to show examples of what we just went over but unable to in most cases.

I may be wrong here but I think the instructor should be able to take the course manual and go through it completely, actually doing all exercises with expected results.

Overall with all the problems I feel I got 75% out of class. The facilities there were great, people friendly and a beautiful area. We did have a rep who was in charge of training supply us with his business card and he wants to hear from us on the problems.

Hopefully they get some things worked out as I have 2 more courses scheduled there in the next couple months.

That's unfortunate. Hopefully the next ones go better.

edit: Ken's right. It's not the best form to post this directly to a public site.

Did you provide this same feedback to the RA rep, and to the instructor ?

Whether you did so or did not, what is your motivation for also posting this to a public Internet forum ?

It does not appear to me that he is "motivated" by any thing. He is stating what he got out of the class, 75%

No motivation Ken, just sharing my experience. Yes I did provide the feedback in class and will be sending email to the rep as he requested. One way to help make things better is to always let them know what the student felt was good and/or bad in the class.

This was my 8th class over last 1 1/2 years and first bad experience. Hopefully it was a isolated problem and they will make necessary improvements.

bob1371 I dont think this is the norm. The only Ab traing I do is one day PR and BS sessions put on by my local vendor there are somtiomes AB reps There and these are FREE events. They are Great for keeping up to date. Any time I have had a problem for anything I have paid for from AB my vendor allways goes above and beyond to make the problem go away. You would be supprised what your vendor can do for you If you just let him know how you feel. This may have been the Instructors first time at teaching this or using the hardware he was provided with and as far as the E-mail thing Do you really read each and every word in all your e-mails?
just My 2 cents, Steve

I've been in almost exactly that instructor's shoes: I had to step in to teach a Rockwell Automation course on a topic that I wasn't familiar with, using demos that had been damaged in transit, with only a few hours to familiarize myself with the courseware. It did not go smoothly, but we got through it.

Two of my students in that class went to their salesman afterwards and asked for a refund. He gave it to them, and told me about it later.

I was initially a little bit stung by the criticism, but I agreed that the training had not been up to my expectations either and that they shouldn't pay for it. I repaired the demos myself before sending them back to the dispatch center.

If those students had instead (or first) posted their disappointment with my work on the Internet, I would have been incensed.

We had some "custom" training from Rockwell a year ago (or so)- Controllogix troubleshooting with Ethernet and controlnet. A guy came from Cleveland(?) to Cincinnati to give the training at a vendor's site.

Their trainer was excellent - personable, mostly funny, knew the hardware in and out. I did not realize that guys that good were in training somewhere. It was also obvious that he had been to more than a few customer sites, following thier engineers fixing things - so he had the stories to back his answers up.
he wasnt perfect (had to look a few things up/call home once) but I would personally have no problem getting training from them (budget permitting...) again.

my fear is that, as the economy continues to spiral downward, tha training department will be the first to lose people...

-John

Ive had nothing but good experience with rockwell training. I cant recall the instructors name, but he was excellent.

Its good to hear other persons story on how a AB class went. I took an AB 11 years ago SLC500 and it went fine. First 4 day class was on troubleshooting and the other was on programming. The good is that I have the software and 2 PLC's to test my programs on.

As a Rockwell instructor, I am disappointed when I hear that someone has a bad experience whether it is my class or one of my colleagues. So I apologize for us not providing the level of service we should have.

I won't make excuses, but I can assure you that your comments, both here and in the classroom have been read by people that can, and will, do something about it.

I am glad to hear the positive responses from others here and I hope we get another chance to earn your trust and confidence.

I have been teaching for 16 years now and like most folks here, would never claim to know it all. When an instructor can't answer your question right off the bat and has to call or look it up, you've asked a really good question! Sometimes even us veterans have to look things up.

OG

I attended a rockwell training in burlington (ontario) PLC5 advanced programming found the instructor knowledgeable and interesting would recommend it.Now if I could only get the company to pay for another one

Hello

I think its great to hear any responses good or bad, because any class or seminar I take effects my wallet, no major company support here.
Thank you bob1371 for your input.

Tom

Training is a very important part of becoming proficient at what you do. With that said, training must be effective and worth the money spent. Many companies have a very limited budget with respect to training and can't send many people or people very often.

When problems arise during a class, it can be very frustrating for both the teacher and the students. We all experience problems, that is one of the reasons we take these types of classes. But when problems take away from the learning, then it is more than frustrating. To take 2 days out of a 4 day class to solve the problem at the expense of the students, does everyone a disservice.

The way that I think that it should happen is when these things happen (and yes, we all know that they will), then the company putting on the training should offer to refund the money and then schedule a new training class. I'm not talking about a tough queston that needs a call to resolve or small hiccups, but problems that take away from the actual training. The students should not have to go up and ask for refunds. The instructors know that this isn't the best class being taught.

To me, that would be world class service.

Actually, I'd blame the problems more on the product then the instructor in this case.