Manufacturing Skills Certification: A New Fast Track for Regional Innovation

by Leo Reddy, Founder, National Council for Advanced Manufacturing, and Industry Manager, Manufacturing Skill Standards Council

A milestone in the history of American workforce and economic development took place on November 15 of this year, when the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) launched a new certification system designed to prepare a generation of American workers to meet the challenges of globalization. The system will assess worker skills and knowledge based on industry-validated standards for all manufacturing sectors, leading workers to the nationally recognized certification of “Manufacturing Production Technician” (view MSSC skill standards overview).

For the economic development community, the advantages of certifying incumbent workers, dislocated workers and students are obvious. Regions impacted by technological change, trade disruptions, company relocations or declining economies will have the advantage of a flexible workforce prepared for rapid retraining and transfer to other industry sectors – including new types of manufacturing in fields such as bioengineering, nanotechnology and microelectronic mechanical systems.

On the front lines of global competition, manufacturers have increased productivity by stepping up their investments in advanced product and process technologies. As a result, manufacturing today requires a higher level of foundational skills. A workforce with broad-based skills will enable companies to shift more rapidly to new process technologies that transform the way products are made, such as smart systems, reconfigurable tools, modeling and simulation, advanced sensors and solid-free form fabrication. The fact that the MSSC skills are rooted in manufacturing makes certification an especially robust tool for accelerating this transition.

The MSSC certification system also will:

• Help regions gain a competitive edge against lowwage/ high-skill countries such as China and India by accelerating innovation, America’s principal advantage in the global economy;

• Secure investment from advanced manufacturers with high-wage, high-skills jobs, and “new industries” that all economic developers are trying to attract;

• Leapfrog sluggish educational reform to prepare individuals for successful employment in advanced manufacturing firms in a matter of months, not years;

• Strengthen the math, science, and English skills so vital to workforce success by teaching them within a contextual, work-oriented framework; and

• Quickly create and document just the kind of workforce for which industry is clamoring.

In addition to increasing a region’s productivity and competitiveness, MSSC certification should enable significant cost savings for economic developers. The efficiency and economies of scale realized through this single system for essential skills can then be used for specialized efforts in economic fields unique to each region.

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