PLAYJAMAICA Limited’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Gregory Moore says his company has been a saving grace for the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB), giving it a solution to a crisis which the entity was struggling with up to last year, specifically relating to frequent damage to fire trucks.

“My technology company is called PlayJamaica Limited. Simulators are one of the things we supply to both the private and public sectors. Early last year, maybe about February, we were engaged by the JFB and we went through a round of discussions over what it is they wanted to achieve.

“It was a matter of urgency because there was a lot of damage to vehicles. New trucks and everything were getting damaged. I would say it was a crisis. They were doing another round of investments in heavy equipment so they wanted to ensure a simulator was a part of that programme to protect the investment and after installing it, there was a 40 per cent decrease in accidents,” Moore told the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday at the JFB’s new offices located at the MJS Industrial and Technology Park in Angels, St Catherine.

Tuesday was the official opening of the Technology Park, which houses the new offices of the JFB, Transparent BPO, IntouchCX, Sagility, Honey Bun and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.

The event was graced with the presence of Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, who was the keynote speaker. Holness received the opportunity to tour the facility and was given first-hand experience on how the simulator works.

During his tour of the JFB facility, Moore told him that his company built the simulator from scratch at their workshop and completed construction on site at the JFB’s new offices.

“When they reached out to us, they expressed a problem with gear boxes and the improper use of clutches in the vehicles. We kind of focused on that area to ensure that the simulator could provide a solution. They can crash as much as they want on the simulator until they get it right. That is the whole point. They can be taken through a rigorous training experience, simulating weather conditions, road conditions, and different types of vehicles. We have other software that shows you how much you’re using the clutch and the percentage of the damage to the clutch. Even the real trucks won’t give you percentage damage but an instructor can quickly see it here on the simulator,” Moore told the prime minister.

Holness then remarked that it was important for the public to realise that these kinds of technology are an integral part of any modern organisation that has a lot of drivers and large fleet of vehicles to manage.

“Simulators are now standard. Pilots use them. Long haul drivers use them, and even in ships you have simulators because you can literally recreate real world conditions and with artificial intelligence, the functionality is even that much greater. The steering vibrates and there is hydraulics. This is a very useful tool and is quite efficient in terms of saving costs from vehicle maintenance and repairs and also the time it takes to train a driver,” he said.

Kevin Haughton, acting commissioner of the JFB, told the Observer that there is an ongoing programme for drivers there, and many instances where equipment was damaged or there were near misses. The simulator programme was implemented almost a year ago.

“The management took a decision to acquire a driving simulator so that we can have an ongoing and sustained programme. We acquired the simulator at a cost of $15 million. Since the acquisition almost one year now, we would have trained over 200 of our drivers, both new and otherwise,” Haughton said.

“Persons who had near misses and accidents, we put them through a re-orientation programme. Since the acquisition, we would have seen a 40 per cent reduction in accidents. We have been able to cut down on fuel costs to conduct the driving programme, driving up and down teaching people to drive a physical truck. We would have saved from expenses to replace and repair clutches and gear boxes. It really creates a safe, controlled environment to train our drivers,” Haughton said, adding that the simulator has led to the JFB saving millions of dollars.

“I haven’t driven a truck in 10 years. To keep up with my driving skills, from time to time I practise on it. The good thing about it is that it is computerised, so if you have poor clutch control, it assesses you and generates a report at the end. The instructors can take a targeted approach in the areas they need to drill down on when conducting the driving programme,” Haughton added.