November 16th Launch of the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) National Certification System: Milestone in the History of American Workforce Skills Development
To meet the challenges of a global marketplace faced by many U.S. manufacturers and workers, the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) will announce the availability of its industry-based foundational skills certification system for workers and students planning on manufacturing careers at a November 16th launch event at the Steelcase University Learning Center in Grand Rapids, MI.
In his opening remarks, MSSC Board chairman Jim McCaslin, President and COO of Harley-Davidson Motor Company, will introduce the first group of MSSC certified training centers as well as the initial group of workers who have earned certification as "Manufacturing Production Technicians."
The MSSC certification system aims at assessing worker/student skills and knowledge based on industry-validated standards for all manufacturing sectors. This system is a milestone event in moving industrial workforce preparation beyond its traditional focus on individual occupational skills.
MSSC focuses instead on producing a more flexible manufacturing workforce that will help existing industries be more innovative and productive. The MSSC system will also help workers prepare for rapid retraining and transfer to new and emerging industry sectors such as bioengineering, nanotechnology and microelectronic mechanical systems.
Workers and students who demonstrate that they have met MSSC foundational skills will be able to fill a wide variety of technical occupations over a lifetime, thereby demonstrating that they are fully capable of adapting to changes taking place in U.S. manufacturing.
McCaslin noted, “Manufacturing today requires a high-level employee, productivity-driven by advanced products and process technologies being introduced in many companies.”
He added, "A workforce with broad-based skills will permit companies to transform the way products are made and shift more rapidly to new process technologies such as smart systems, reconfigurable tools, modeling and simulation, advanced sensors, and solid-free form fabrication."
Featured speakers representing the President's Manufacturing Council at the Launch Event will be Fred Keller, CEO of Cascade Engineering; James McGregor, President of Morgal Machine Tools, Inc.; and Jamie Estrada, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing and Services.
Other speakers include David Hollister, Director, Department of Labor and Economic Growth, State of Michigan; Robert Baugh, Executive Director, AFL-CIO Industrial Union Counicl; Nancy Mills, Executive Director, AFL-CIO Working for America Institute; Stephanie Powers, CEO, National Association of Workforce Boards; Kim Green, Executive Director, National Association of State Directors of Career and Technical Education; and Janet Bray, Executive Director, Association for Career and Technical Education.
For further information, contact Mary Gabriel at 202-429-2220, ext. 105.
