Honeywell charts path to accessible simulation training
Process industries are grappling with a widening gap between their most experienced operators and newer staff who must eventually take their place. Retirements are accelerating, institutional knowledge is walking out the door, and the old-school methods of developing console operators are no longer keeping pace.
At the 2026 Honeywell User Group in Phoenix, Jennifer Prgesa, offering manager for the Honeywell workforce competency line, discussed how the process industries can make simulation training accessible to a workforce under mounting pressure. Her presentation, entitled “Path to Enterprise Accessible Simulation-Based Training,” drew on real customer feedback, Honeywell’s own product evolution, and an assessment of both the industry’s challenges and the cloud-powered solutions now emerging to address them.
“The old training methods started with spending years in the field, then moving to the console and doing over-the-shoulder training—all those days of slow training are not working anymore,” Prgesa said. “That’s not a scalable approach.”
In addition, operators are being asked to manage systems that in many ways have moved beyond manual interaction. “How do you train somebody on something that’s maybe out of their hands to begin with?” Prgesa asked. The answer, she argued, lies in experiential training—specifically, simulation-based training—that trains new operators in realistic scenarios without the risks of a live environment.
She pointed out the cost of training each replacement worker is significant, and organizations increasingly cannot afford to let skill development happen gradually over years. “In order to build that resiliency in the workforce, we need to close the skills gap, and we need to close it more quickly than ever,” she said.
Key challenges to operational performance
Beyond human capital, Prgesa identified several operational and technological pressures converging on plant operators and training managers. Process complexity continues to grow as automation layers multiply, making it harder to ensure competency through traditional classroom or on-the-job instruction. The risks of undertrained operators in high-consequence environments can lead to safety incidents, unplanned shutdowns and compliance failures.
Yet, despite their proven value, simulators are often underused. “Some folks are afraid of the simulator—not everybody wants to tackle it,” Prgesa said.
Even when organizations embrace simulation training in principle, they frequently run into practical barriers that limit reach. Prgesa outlined a set of structural challenges inherent to traditional, hardware-centric simulation deployments that undermine scalability and enterprise-wide adoption.
Physical machines tethered to specific locations constrain who can train and when. The infrastructure is expensive to acquire and maintain, and it demands specialized IT support and niche skills that many sites struggle to sustain. When simulation systems exist at multiple facilities, keeping them updated and synchronized becomes a logistical burden.
“You could have several systems across several sites and not be able to maintain those,” she said. “The infrastructure is expensive and it requires unique teams of people with niche skills.”
There is also the challenge of demonstrating ROI to leadership. Without accessible performance data, training managers find it difficult to justify simulation investment or scale programs across an enterprise. These pain points, Prgesa said, directly informed Honeywell’s product development strategy.
Honeywell’s simulation portfolio and next-generation HMI
Before turning to the cloud, Prgesa walked attendees through the spectrum of simulation modalities available today. At one end sits fully emulated solutions called PC emulation or “simulation in a box” where all components, including the DCS console, are represented in software with no external physical hardware. In the middle lies console emulation paired with mathematical process models. At the highest end is what Honeywell calls “fullhead,” a full-scope simulation solution that connects directly to an actual DCS, making the training environment essentially indistinguishable from the live control room.
Honeywell’s primary simulation software platform is Process Training Simulator (PTS), which supports all these modalities. The company also offers field training simulation tools and immersive reality products, with connectors linking field operations and console operations training together.
Prgesa presented a next-generation, fully browser-based HMI solution for simulation. Built on Honeywell’s Experion DCS look-and-feel standard, the new interface moves away from legacy client-installed software toward a fully web-native experience. “We’ve gone to a completely browser-based HMI graphic, but it is still based on the Experion HMI graphic standard package,” Prgesa said.
It also prioritizes screen real estate, minimizing static menus so that the process graphics remain the center of attention. New trend and alarm packages, built as reusable components, are designed to look and behave more like the consoles operators use in production environments.
Cloud-based and collaborative solutions
Honeywell’s cloud-based offering, called Connected Competency, represents Honeywell’s answer to the scalability and accessibility challenges. It moves simulation training infrastructure into a managed cloud environment accessible from any browser, anywhere.
A key innovation is collaborative capability. The COVID pandemic, Prgesa said, fundamentally changed assumptions about co-location in training. You really don’t need to have your learner and mentor in the same place at the same time if you have the right solution. Honeywell’s solution lets multiple users join a simulation session remotely, with instructors able to enter, observe and exit sessions without disrupting the learner’s workflow.
The platform also incorporates a lightweight learning management capability. Through an integrated workshops and lessons, operators can access structured training paths, combining simulation exercises, videos and documents. “You want to train, but you don’t want to understand how to start the software. So, you click one button and everything automatically starts for you,” Prgesa said.
The cloud shifts simulation training from a site-bound, IT-intensive asset to an enterprise-wide capability. The practical implications are that a new operator at a remote facility can train in the same scenarios and in the same environment as a colleague at headquarters. An experienced mentor in another time zone can join a session without traveling. A training manager can monitor utilization and competency metrics across dozens of sites from a single dashboard.
