A single Siemens S7-1200 starter kit runs into the high hundreds of dollars per student before you've added wiring panels, software licences, and maintenance contracts. Multiply by a 30-student cohort and most engineering departments will decline the capital request before the motivation is even written. The traditional one-rig-per-student model was never financially viable. There is another way.
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The problem
Rigs purchased in 2015 run outdated firmware that no longer reflects what graduates encounter in the field. Vendors move on; colleges are locked into whatever platform the purchasing committee approved eight years ago. Graduates leave with exposure to one ageing platform and no ability to adapt to others.
Per-machine, per-seat, and per-campus licensing models were designed for industrial customers, not educational institutions growing year by year. There are no resale rights, no home-use provisions, and no practical way for students to continue practising outside scheduled lab hours.
Load shedding, transport delays, and working students make physical lab attendance unreliable. When the lab is the only place students can access the software, any disruption to attendance equals lost practice hours with no alternative.
Generating PoE (Portfolio of Evidence) for practical competency assessments is a manual, paper-heavy process. There is no digital activity log, no automatic timestamp trail, and no easy way to compile evidence per student for moderation. Note: the platform itself is not QCTO-accredited — it provides evidence-gathering support within your accredited programme.
The solution
No installation, no IT involvement, no admin rights required. Works in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge on any operating system. The ladder logic editor supports contacts, coils, timers, counters, and comparison blocks to IEC 61131-3 — this is not a simplified toy, it is the same logic model students will encounter in the field.
Conveyor systems, traffic light sequencing, motor star-delta starters, level control, and fault detection — each scenario is named and framed around recognisable industrial equipment. That industrial framing bridges classroom theory to workplace relevance in a way that abstract ladder exercises cannot.
The /team admin console lets you build a structured learning path, assign it to a cohort, and view progress at a glance. You no longer chase individual students for updates or guess who is behind before a practical assessment.
Each student can export a portfolio PDF with timestamped scenario completions and their name attached. The document provides verifiable completion evidence that supports PoE compilation for NQF-aligned practical assessments.
Pro seats are priced at $199 per year. Seats are reassignable — if a student withdraws mid-year, that seat moves to a replacement student. No penalty, no wasted spend, no negotiation required.
Early pilots
Case study coming Q3 2026. A TVET college in the Western Cape is currently piloting the Teams plan with a 2nd-year electrical engineering cohort. Details will be published with institutional permission.
Case study coming Q3 2026. A private vocational training provider delivering NQF Level 3 and Level 4 electro-mechanics programmes is using cohort progress reports to identify students at risk of failing practical competency assessments before moderation.
Pricing
| Cohort size | Annual cost | Per student / month |
|---|---|---|
| 10 students | $1,990 / yr | $16.58 |
| 30 students | $5,970 / yr | $16.58 |
| 60 students | $11,940 / yr | $16.58 |
Pro seats are $199/seat/year on annual billing. Bulk pricing available — see full pricing →
What's included
No minimum seat count. No hardware budget required. Create your team account free and invite your first students today.