Response to President Trump:
Use MSSC CPT to Ensure Success of Manufacturing Apprenticeships
SUMMARY
In yesterday's
White House Press Release on workforce development, the Trump administration underlined the value of apprenticeships in filling the skills gap.
Through his Executive Order, Trump is "
providing opportunity for Americans to gain skills needed to succeed and thrive as the economy grows." The President recognizes the value of skill-focused education and is taking steps to create more options for Americans by
expanding apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships and improving job-training programs.
In implementing the President's strategy in the manufacturing sector, MSSC is calling on its community to encourage government policy makers and industry executives to:
- Make the attainment of MSSC Certified Production Technician (CPT) credentials a requirement for all pre-apprenticeships
- Give preference to the CPT-grounded Industrial Manufacturing Technician (IMT) as the preferred Registered Apprenticeship program
- Reassure employers that new hires will be successful apprentices.
MSSC's national leadership role and the unique benefits of MSSC CPT for apprenticeships are summarized below.
SPECIAL NOTICE: Those benefits will be greatly enhanced at the SkillsUSA national competition in Louisville. At that time, MSSC will officially launch a new
hands-on "CPT+" certificate enabled by
"Skill Boss," a revolutionary assessment and training device engineered by Amatrol. Lightweight and portable,
"Skill Boss" will enable any high school, community college, and manufacturer to offer CPT hands-on certification and training in advanced manufacturing core technical competencies at low cost. (See
Skill Boss brochure for details)
MSSC - Gold Standard
An industry-led, 501(c)(3) non-profit, MSSC is the national leader in training and certifying the foundational, core technical competencies for in-demand, higher skilled front-line production jobs in all manufacturing sectors. MSSC delivers its national standards-based Certified Production Technician (CPT) training and assessment program through a network of 1900 trained instructors and 1000+ test sites, mostly at secondary schools and community colleges, in 49 states. For details, see "
MSSC Nation's Gold Standard" document.
Unique Benefits of MSSC in Pre-Apprenticeships
MSSC CPT and CPT+ are the ideal programs for preparing both students and workers to succeed in any manufacturing apprenticeship program:
- Offers a high-quality industry certification for individuals entering an apprenticeship program
- Saves participating companies the costs of foundational skills training
- Offers job applicants who are easily trainable and ready to be productive from day one.
- Embeds both core technical skills and employability skills in certification
- Ensures that companies are beginning their apprenticeship programs with a higher skilled, more productive workforce from the very outset
- Saves participating companies costs of foundational skills training
- Provides highly motivated, certified job applicants who are already committed to a career pathway in advanced manufacturing
- Offers certified job applicants who have the core technical competencies and computer skills needed to keep pace with technological change
- Enables pre-apprenticeship training and certification in both secondary and postsecondary schools.
Unique Benefits of the Industrial Manufacturing Technician (IMT) Registered Apprenticeship
CPT is embedded in IMT, which was registered with the U.S Department of Labor in 2014. (See
IMT Apprenticeship Related Instruction description). This popular apprenticeship offers the following benefits:
- IMT's 260 hours of related training is an ideal foundation for a successful apprenticeship. It includes CPT courses, basic math, and OSHA10 training
- CPT courses include an introduction to emerging advanced technologies (e.g. 3-D, Internet of Things, Mechatronics, Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials Next Gen Robotics) enabling companies to invest in these productivity-enhancing technologies more confidently
- The remaining 1740 hours on-the-job training is based on the MSSC model of a flexible, "hybrid" worker able to perform a wide variety of production tasks.
- IMT won three competitive grants under the first 2015 American Apprenticeship Initiative with active programs currently underway in multiple states in the Northeast and Midwest.
- IMT is a preferred, highly flexible apprenticeship in the manufacturing "sector" strategy
- If IMT apprentices have already secured a CPT or CPT Plus certification in pre-apprenticeship training (see above), this absolves companies from having to pay for this part of the "related training"
- It also saves time, by enabling the apprenticeship to move more rapidly into OJT.
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
:
T
o enable the manufacturing sector to take the lead in closing the skills gap, the MSSC calls upon the companies, educators and government agencies in the MSSC Community to make full use of MSSC CPT and CPT+ programs to incorporate them into all their pre-apprenticeship programs and to use IMT as their preferred Registered Apprenticeship program.
