When a U.S. warehouse imports autonomous forklifts or AGVs from China, equipment installation is only one part of the deployment. The local team also needs to know how to operate the vehicles, respond to alarms, perform basic maintenance, and recognize situations that require supplier engineering support.

For this reason, on-site training should be defined before the equipment is shipped. The training scope, number of training days, maintenance content, documentation, operator qualification, and local safety requirements should all be included in the project plan rather than left as informal support after installation.

What Is Usually Included in an On-Site AGV Training Curriculum?

A professional Chinese AGV manufacturer may divide on-site training into several modules. The exact curriculum depends on the vehicle type, fleet management software, warehouse layout, and customer's maintenance capabilities.

• AGV operating procedures

• Starting, stopping, charging, and parking procedures

• Manual or assisted driving procedures, where supported

• Loading and unloading pallets

• Correct pallet positioning and fork entry

• Fleet management software operation

• Task assignment and mission monitoring

• Alarm and fault-code interpretation

• Emergency-stop procedures

• Recovery procedures after an abnormal stop

• Battery and charging procedures

• Daily inspection and preventive maintenance

• Basic sensor and navigation checks

• Escalation procedures for faults that require engineering support

For a high-bay or narrow-aisle warehouse, training should also include the actual operating environment. Operators should understand rack clearances, pallet presentation, staging areas, restricted zones, charging locations, pedestrian areas, and the operating rules established for the specific site.

How Many Days of Hands-On Training Are Normally Provided?

There is no universal number of training days for Chinese AGV projects. A simple deployment with a small fleet may require less on-site training than a large warehouse with multiple vehicle types, complex traffic rules, WMS integration, charging stations, elevators, or high-bay operations.

A practical project plan may allocate several days for hands-on training during installation and commissioning. The important point is not simply the number of days. The training should continue until the designated personnel can demonstrate the required procedures under actual warehouse conditions.

For example, a deployment schedule could include:

1. Initial system and equipment introduction

2. Hands-on operator training

3. Maintenance and troubleshooting training

4. Production simulation with representative pallets

5. Emergency and abnormal-condition exercises

6. Operator competency verification

7. Final handover and documentation review

For procurement purposes, it is better to specify the required training hours and learning objectives in the contract instead of simply writing "on-site training included."

Does Chinese Manufacturer Training Include Low-Level Electrical Troubleshooting?

It can, but this should be explicitly defined in the technical scope. Basic operator training and maintenance technician training are two different levels of instruction.

Maintenance personnel may need training on areas such as:

• Battery and charging-system checks

• Fuse and circuit-protection inspection

• 24 VDC control circuits

• Emergency-stop circuit diagnosis

• Sensor status checks

• Proximity and position sensor troubleshooting

• Safety scanner fault indications

• Motor or drive fault codes

• Controller diagnostic information

• Communication faults between vehicle and fleet system

• Basic connector and cable inspection

• Fault log collection and escalation

However, the supplier should clearly define what technicians are permitted to troubleshoot themselves. High-voltage battery systems, safety circuits, motor controllers, electrical cabinets, and other hazardous systems may require additional qualifications and procedures.

A good training program therefore separates three levels of troubleshooting: operator-level recovery, maintenance-level diagnosis, and manufacturer-level engineering intervention. This prevents warehouse personnel from attempting repairs that should be performed by qualified technical personnel.

Will Warehouse Operators Receive a Formal Certificate?

A Chinese manufacturer may provide a training certificate, course-completion document, or manufacturer-issued operator qualification record. However, a manufacturer's certificate should not automatically be treated as a substitute for any operator training or qualification requirements that apply to the employer and workplace.

This distinction is important for U.S. warehouses. The manufacturer can document that an employee completed the supplier's equipment training, but the warehouse employer may still have its own responsibility for evaluating operator competence and implementing the required workplace training and authorization process.

The procurement contract should therefore specify what document will be provided after training. For example:

• Training attendance record

• Training completion certificate

• Operator competency checklist

• Maintenance technician training record

• Training test results, if applicable

• Training date and trainer information

• Equipment model and software version covered by the training

This documentation is particularly useful when the warehouse has employee turnover and needs to train new operators after the original commissioning team has left.

Is the Chinese Factory's Training Documentation Updated for Local Safety Regulations?

This should never be assumed simply because the equipment is being deployed in the United States. Chinese manufacturers may provide manuals, operating instructions, maintenance procedures, risk information, and training materials, but the customer should verify that the final training package addresses the requirements of the actual installation site.

Local safety requirements can affect topics such as pedestrian interaction, operator authorization, emergency procedures, lockout/tagout practices, battery charging, electrical work, machine guarding, warehouse traffic control, and site-specific emergency response.

The manufacturer should provide the technical documentation for the vehicle and system, while the warehouse operator, employer, integrator, and local safety professionals may need to adapt site procedures to the applicable U.S. requirements.

For this reason, the most useful question to ask a Chinese supplier is not simply, "Is your training manual compliant with U.S. regulations?" A better question is:

"Which training documents are supplied by the manufacturer, which requirements are site-specific, and who is responsible for reviewing and adapting the final operating procedures for our facility?"

What Should Be Written Into the AGV Training Specification?

Before placing an order, the customer should create a training specification rather than relying on a general statement that training is included.

How Should Training Be Verified During FAT and SAT?

Training should not be treated as a classroom activity only. During FAT and SAT, the supplier and customer can verify whether operators and maintenance personnel can perform representative tasks correctly.

An operator competency test could include starting the vehicle, accepting a mission, handling a representative pallet, responding to an alarm, placing the pallet into the correct location, returning the vehicle to a designated area, and performing the required emergency procedure.

A maintenance test could include reading diagnostic information, identifying a sensor fault, checking a basic electrical connection, collecting fault logs, restarting the appropriate subsystem, and determining when the problem must be escalated to the manufacturer.

The objective is not to turn warehouse employees into AGV engineers. The objective is to establish a clear boundary between what the local team can safely handle and what requires manufacturer intervention.

What Should a U.S. Buyer Ask a Chinese AGV Supplier Before Signing?

• How many days of on-site training are included in the quotation?

• How many trainers will be provided?

• How many operators and maintenance technicians can attend?

• Is training performed on the customer's actual equipment?

• Does the training include hands-on fault recovery?

• What level of electrical troubleshooting can the customer's maintenance team perform?

• Are electrical drawings and diagnostic procedures provided?

• Is fleet-management software training included?

• Will the manufacturer issue a training or completion certificate?

• What information will appear on the certificate?

• Can the training materials be provided in English?

• How are software-version changes reflected in training documentation?

• Who is responsible for adapting site-specific safety procedures?

• Is refresher training available after commissioning?

• What remote technical support is available after the Chinese engineers leave?

For an imported AGV project, the strongest training package is not necessarily the one offering the largest number of training days. It is the one that gives operators, maintenance technicians, supervisors, and IT personnel clearly defined responsibilities, practical hands-on experience, usable documentation, and a reliable escalation path when the warehouse encounters a problem that cannot be solved locally.