MSSC defines national standards for skills needed to empower manufacturing resurgence

On June 1, the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) will release the 2020 “Industry 4.0” Edition of its national skill standards for production technicians.

MSSC says that, if widely adopted, these standards will help ensure that the post-COVID-19 resurgence in manufacturing is faster and will boost labor productivity, economic growth, and global competitiveness.

Based on extensive research with leading subject matter experts, MSSC has chosen nine, newly emerging “Industry 4.0” technologies to add to its national skill standards for advanced manufacturing production:  5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Additive (3D), Industrial Internet of things (IIOT), Autonomous Robots, Data Analytics, Augmented Reality, Nanomanufacturing and Advanced Materials.

These standards are the basis for a related upgrade of MSSC’s signature Certified Production Technician (CPT®) training and certification program applicable to some six million production workers in the manufacturing sector. Also, effective June 1, MSSC is making this enhanced CPT 4.0 program available fully on-line at low cost and in a short time frame.

Working at home on their PCs, students, incumbent workers or unemployed can earn the full CPT 4.0 Certification in just 6-8 weeks. A recent report by the National Student Clearinghouse, based on the history of thousands of CPT certificants, documented that a fully certified CPT technician can earn up to $45,000 annually. Most importantly, they can secure this credential in the next few months to be more employable when hiring resumes during the resurgence.

In turn, they are positioned to help companies adopt these “4.0” technologies which will enable them to be more competitive, while also improving labor productivity and filling in the persistent skills gap in manufacturing.

An industry-led non-profit, the MSSC won a national competition in 1998 under the National Skill Standards Act to serve as the voluntary partnership of industry, education and labor to define the foundational, national skill standards for front-line production work in all sectors of manufacturing. To keep pace with technological change, the MSSC updates its federally recognized standards every 2-3 years with subject matter experts. Now an American institution, MSSC delivers its services through a nationwide network of some 2600 MSSC-trained instructors and 1700 MSSC-Authorized Assessment Centers and 72 field reps in all 50 states.