Northwest Florida Manufacturing News Monthly
A note about incorporating MSSC CPT certification as manufacturing curriculum in secondary school education
A question the Council frequently hears is “Why did the Council decide to build the secondary school curriculum around the  Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) Certified Production Technician (CPT) certification?” Many are not even aware of what the MSSC CPT means to our manufacturing facilities.

As a reminder, in 2013 the NWFL Manufacturing Academy Task Force was established to identify a means to close the skills gap associated with manufacturing positions. The most significant gap was at the entry level. With this in mind, manufacturers began to identify specific skills they are missing with these new hires. The primary emphasis of this decision was to ensure the educational institutes were in lockstep with manufacturers to ensure the skills being taught at the secondary level are what manufacturers require. Math, science and technology are great — but if students don’t understand how to implement what they learn into modern day manufacturing, we will miss an important piece of the overall puzzle. 

With this in mind, the Task Force partnered with the national MSSC whose mission is to accept responsibility for developing a nation-wide system of industry-led standards, assessments and certifications for all sectors of manufacturing. The MSSC focuses on core skills and knowledge for entry-level through first line of supervision production and production-support workers. 

It was quickly determined that the Certified Production Technician curriculum covered the required five basic topics: Safety, Quality Practices and Measurement, Manufacturing Processes and Production, Maintenance Awareness, and Green Production. Local manufacturers determined that they too required these five skills no matter what they manufacturer (aerospace to food products). This being a national certification also allowed for the Council to work with the Florida Department of Education to ensure students acquiring the CPT may then move in a path towards post-secondary schooling and articulate 15 hours of credit toward a degree in the same field.

In a nutshell: The MSSC CPT curriculum was designed by manufacturers for manufacturers. Our next step is to educate regional manufacturers to add “CPT desired” to job descriptions.

Worlds of Possibilities Career Expo
Pensacola State College, Greater Pensacola Chamber, Visit Pensacola, Gulf Power and local school districts are pleased to announce the Fourth Annual SkillsUSA Worlds of Possibilities Career Expo on February 28 - March 1, 2017 at Pensacola State College's Pensacola Campus.

The Worlds of Possibilities are made up of multiple areas including the "World of Manufacturing." For the past three years, the NWFMC has led the World of Manufacturing adding another opportunity to showcase manufacturing opportunities to over 2,000 students. This year, we will have the Ascend interns presenting to students the accomplishments they've made at the Cantonment facility. We will have Lego robots from the middle school programs and larger models from PSC and UWF.  SolidWorks and Amatrol will also bring additional fun applications for hands on demonstrations.  The intent this year is to have some of our regional schools participate in the robotics competition next year as the state competition is being hosted here in Pensacola.

Included within the Worlds of Possibilities is SkillsUSA, a nationally recognized program that serves as a partnership between students, teachers and industries to ensure that America has a skilled workforce. This collaboration provides students with the opportunity to apply and practice quality work in their prospective fields. SkillsUSA promotes teamwork, leadership, citizenship and character development. It builds and reinforces self-confidence, work attitude and communication skills. SkillsUSA is comprised of over 300,000 students nationwide.

Member Highlight: Maritech Machine Inc. 
Maritech Machine Inc. is a locally owned machine shop established 24 years ago by Randell McCall and his wife Lisa. The business has since grown into a 20 man “job shop” with a wide range of machining and fabrication capabilities.  The company's focus is serving the machining needs of industrial businesses in North West Florida and beyond,  utilizing their skill and expertise to save down time and money by creating the necessary machine parts to keep equipment running. The recent addition of a 6,000 sq. ft. fabrication shop has allowed Maritech to take on more work that, in the past, was sent out of the state to other fabricators.  The experience level in the business allows them to serve a wide range of industries including u nder sea oil and gas exploration, p ipe manufacturing, m arine/shipping industries, all  local branches of the Military, c onstruction and w ind turbine.

"The Northwest Florida Manufacturers Council has been an integral part of our growth. Our active participation has allowed us to better position ourselves for the future while being a part of creating the next generation of skilled employees. Without the focus on STEM related education students of today will not be ready to replace retiring workers and/or continue to grow the manufacturing sector in northwest Florida." 
Welcome New Members
Enviva's Cottondale facility has a production capacity of 700K metric tons per year, manufactured from a mix of untreated raw wood, waste wood and residuals. Pellets produced at this facility are exported from Port Panama City, Fla., for international customers and carry the ENplus quality certification.  The facility employs more than 100 people including technicians, engineers and operators.
Spanish Trail Lumber is located in the panhandle of Florida which offers an advantage of shipping anywhere in the South and Central US.  Spanish Trail Lumber is committed to producing a high quality product as well as growing customer satisfaction offering  many options in products as well as shipping to ensure products are received timely and in high-quality condition.

January Calendar
CNC Programming Essentials (Online)
January 16 - March 16
Mondays and Thursdays,  3:00 - 6:00 PM
NFPA 70E ArcFlash Compliance Training
Thursday, January 12,  8:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Chipola College
FloridaMakes Webinar -
Developing Emerging Leaders

Thursday, January 19, 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Board of Directors Meeting
Thursday, January 19, 
2:00 - 2:45 PM
Eastman Chemical Company, Pace, FL
General Membership Meeting
Thursday, January 19
3:00 - 4:30 PM
Eastman Chemical Company, Pace, FL
Have an event you would like to add? 
Email information to Cindy@nwfmc.org

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