National Oilwell Varco : M/D Totco opens new training facility in Odessa, Texas

The M/D Totco Training Department recently opened its newest training facility in Odessa, Texas after identifying a demand for more West Texas-based field service technicians (FSTs) to meet the growing needs of customers.

The new facility supports FST Evolution, the four-week technical training program designed to train FSTs on the highest revenue-generating products and enable them to contribute in a short amount of time. Before beginning the program, candidates are required to complete onboarding and rig systems introductions, where senior-level employees sign off on the requirements of the 30 sections that have been met. Among these 30 sections are safety training, system component identification, and technical tasks involving system installation and configuration. The process takes approximately 1 month to complete.

Once the screening process has been completed, the FST Evolution training program begins. This program features rigorous courses covering topics an FST needs to know before heading out to the rigsite, including:

• Electrical fundamentals and troubleshooting
• Networking and wireless
• System 4 data acquisition unit (DAQ)
• RigSense rigsite information system
• System 10 DAQ
• VSAT communications

Odessa Field Service Technician Nick Sullwold said, 'I found the training to be a very informative set of classes. All of the instructors were very professional and took the time to fully explain the topic at hand. I left with a greater understanding of my job as a whole and look forward to future courses with NOV.'

Other M/D Totco training facilities are located in Cedar Park and Willis, TX. By training FSTs at their location, there will be significant savings made in travel time, expense, and overtime. 'Offering the training locally also gives the Odessa staff visibility of the new technicians, which makes them feel like part of the team,' explains West Texas District Manager Michael Moler. 'Training locally and relying on current technicians to aid the Training Department seems to be a much more productive method across the board.'

For more information on Training and Competency, contact David Robinson, M/D Totco's global training manager.

Published Date: 2019-01-03
Source: National Oilwell Varco