Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC)
Testimonials | Learning Objectives
The Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) is an industry-led training, assessment and certification system focused on the core skills and knowledge needed by the nation’s production workers. The MSSC System, based upon federally-endorsed national standards, offers these workers the opportunity to demonstrate that they have mastered the skills increasingly needed in the high-growth, technical jobs of the 21st century.
The MSSC System awards the Production Technician Certification to new and incumbent workers who pass the four manufacturing-related modules: Manufacturing Processes and Production; Quality Assurance; Maintenance Awareness; and Safety. Applicable to all sectors of manufacturing, the MSSC goal is to credential 40% of the production workforce over the next 10 years—a strategy providing manufacturers with a sufficient pool of skilled production workers well into the future.
The MSSC System offers industry a new set of tools to ensure that both entering and incumbent workers are flexible, easily trainable, and highly motivated knowledge workers in high-performance work organizations. A list of the basic academic, employability and technical skills against which MSSC trains and assesses workers is attached.
Just as “ASE” (Automotive Service Excellence) certification is the standard for quality in the automotive repair sector, the MSSC Production Technician Certificate will set the quality standard in our nation’s factories as its use increases. MSSC benefits to manufacturers include:
1. A pipeline of skilled workers by embedding MSSC certification training into the schools
2. Decreased recruitment costs by providing job candidates with industry-recognized credentials
3. A diagnostic tool to benchmark incumbent workers against a high-performance national standard
4. Increased ROI for training by targeting it against the gaps identified by the MSSC diagnostic tool
5. An aid to attracting, motivating and retaining qualified employeesThe National Skill Standards Board of the U.S. Department of Labor formally recognized MSSC as the “Voluntary Partnership” for manufacturing in 1998 and officially endorsed the MSSC’s industry-led, nationally validated standards in 2001. The development of those standards involved some 4000 front-line workers, 700 companies, and 350 subject matter experts and a public-private investment of over $9 million.
Since that time, the MSSC has developed, validated, piloted and deployed all the tools of a comprehensive system: on-line and instructor-led courses, textbooks, instructor certification training, assessment center certification, a national registry, assessments, credentials, and diagnostic tools for employers. Companies may use these tools themselves or work through their local community colleges and/or high schools.
** Additional Costs for Tools, Books and/or Supplies may apply.
