Training center powers small company’s global reach

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With customers that range from Norfolk Southern Corp. to Halliburton Co., one small Bethlehem business is looking to capitalize on its ability to be local training providers for a wide range of industries that use hydraulic, electrical or pneumatic-powered equipment.

At its Industrial Technology Training Center, Applied Motion Technologies Inc. also designs and builds the equipment it uses to train maintenance and plant personnel, using real-life industrial components in its classes that are held on a customer’s site or at the center.

Such an approach goes a long way toward efforts to build a knowledgeable, skilled workforce ready to step out into the real environment once the training ends.

“Our mission is to enhance people’s skills,” said Richard Yanzsa, president of Applied Motion Technologies. “All our equipment can be used in real equipment sites. We can take hands-on training directly to the customers if they don’t want to send their customers here.”

The training stands the company built allow it to take training equipment to other sites.

“Depending on the course we are running, we will get groups from all over the country,” said Jim Trinkle, vice president. Some students also arrive from outside the U.S.

“We had a student from Nigeria; he works for Chevron. He is planning to come back,” Trinkle said. “There are people coming from around the world for training here.”

This year, Applied Motion Technologies is running eight different classes in hydraulics at the center, which also is where it develops the curriculum. Generally, classes are one week.

It wouldn’t be unusual for the company to do 120 weeks of training in a year, Yanzsa said.

The company also wants to be a training source for Lehigh Valley residents and plans to offer evening technical training for local employees in classes that run three to four hours, twice a week.