Blueprint for building a skilled workforce

Manufacturing has changed. Jobs require more skill, training, and experience, especially in the use of technology. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 1950, 60% of manufacturing jobs were unskilled; today, only 30% are unskilled; by 2005, the number is expected to shrink to 15%.

In addition, retirement-eligible workers are leaving manufacturing jobs in large numbers. A study by the University of Michigan reports that the auto industry alone needs to find 250,000 workers by 2005 to replace retirees.

According to a recent U.S. Census Bureau survey, more than half of the responding companies cited the “need for better education and training” as one of the most significant barriers to the adoption of new technologies. And no wonder. The American Management Association reports that in 1999, almost 42% of manufacturing job applicants lacked the basic reading, writing, and math skills needed to do the jobs they were applying for.

Help is coming

Because ensuring the existence of a skilled workforce in the 21stCentury is perhaps the greatest challenge facing manufacturing today, the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) was formed in 1997 to address the challenge. MSSC brought together leaders representing companies, workers, educators, and related organizations to create a blueprint for a new skills pipeline in manufacturing. Since it is a unique partnership among education, industry, and labor, MSSC has been able to provide leadership in the creation of an industrywide skill standards system.

In May 2001, the MSSC released “A Blueprint for Workforce Excellence,” a set of skill standards created to address the skills problem. More than 3800 frontline workers, 700 companies, 300 experts, and 30 facilitating organizations have participated in the development of the MSSC skill standards.

What are the skill standards

The skill standards represent the best practices for high-performance work and define the skills and knowledge required to ensure a skilled, mobile industrial workforce. This includes the research and national validation of the specific job functions in best-practice work sites — the indicators that tell when the job is completed successfully as well as the level of technical knowledge and skills need for the job.

There are three distinct levels of skill standards: core, concentration, and specialized. MSSC has developed standards for six concentration areas and has identified the core skills and knowledge that are common to all six concentrations. The concentration areas are:

Production

Health, safety, and environment assurance

Logistics and inventory control

Maintenance, installation, and repair

Production process development

Quality assurance

Uses of skill standards

The skill standards can be used in many ways:

As a communications tool among companies, the education community, and current and future workers

In conjunction with existing training programs and apprenticeships

To benchmark manufacturing processes to best practices

To develop job descriptions

To enable companies to work with line managers, unions, and employees to conduct training needs analyses

To develop and/or improve training programs

To work with local schools to develop curricula and programs to prepare students for good manufacturing jobs.

Finally, the new skill standards form the foundation of a complete system that will include assessment and certification programs.

MSSC skill standards concentration in maintenance, installation, and repair

Definition: Ensure that the maintenance of the manufacturing system fulfills customer and business requirements. Install and repair equipment on the manufacturing floor.

Sample jobs covered: Industrial maintenance mechanic, industrial maintenance electrician, and millright.

Information about the work: This component describes what workers need to be able to do on the job to perform competently. It includes:

Critical work functions – The major responsibilities of work within the maintenance, installation, and repair concentration.

Key activities – The major duties or tasks involved in carrying out a critical work function.

Performance indicators – Indicators of how to determine when someone is performing each key activity competently.

Information about the worker: This aspect of the skill standards describes the knowledge and skills an individual needs to perform the work described in each critical work function, along with its key activities and performance indicators. There are three types of knowledge and skills:

Academic knowledge and skills -Skills such as mathematics, reading, etc.

Employability knowledge and skills – Broadly applicable skills such as working in teams, analyzing and solving problems, etc.

Occupational and technical knowledge and skills – Skills that tend to be specific to an industry or concentration, such as skill using inspection tools and equipment, knowledge of manufacturing processes, etc.

For each critical work function, the standards list key activities and the performance indicators associated with those activities. They also list skill categories and the specific knowledge and skills needed for each category.

The MSSC Skill Standards can be viewed, printed, or ordered at msscusa.org.

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