Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) Training, Assessment and Certification System

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Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC)
Training, Assessment and Certification System

• Remarks by James McCaslin
• President and COO, Harley Davidson
• Motor Company, and Chairman, MSSC Board of
  Directors

Council on Workforce Development September 22,
2006 Country Springs Hotel Waukesha, WI
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Topics to be Covered

• Importance of Manufacturing in U.S. and Wisconsin
• Need for Skilled Workers to Meet Global
  Challenges
• Skills Gap Issue
• MSSC Solution to Skills Gap
• Elements of National MSSC System
• Wisconsin/MSSC Program
• Steps by Harley-Davidson
• Steps Needed by Others

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Manufacturings Importance to U.S. Economy

• Growth
• Innovation
• Competitiveness
• Productivity
• Income
• Jobs
• Sources BLS, NAM, ISM

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Challenges Faced by U.S.-based Manufacturers

• Intense global competition
• Emergence of strong high-skills, low-wage
  economies, e.g., China and India
• Increased costs health care, pensions, energy,
  legal, environmental
• Shortage of qualified U.S. workers

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Response Increased Productivity and Innovation

• Accelerated productivity and innovation
• Next generation of innovative products and
  processes
• Workers

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Skills Gap

• 80 of respondents in the NAM/DeloitteLLC Skills
  Gap survey 2005 reported difficulty in finding
  workers with the right skills
• Nearly 50 of respondents reported inadequate
  employability and problem-solving skills
• One third reported insufficient reading, writing
  and communications skills

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Acute Shortage of Production Workers

• 90 of the respondents in NAM survey report a
  shortage of skilled production workers
• Employers worldwide identify production
  technicians and operators as 3rd and 4th ranking
  job categories in which there are the most
  serious shortages of skilled workers (Manpower
  Inc.,Feb.06)
• Example Toyota-San Antonio

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Solution to Production Workforce Development
ChallengesMSSC Approach

• A nationwide system training, assessment and
  credentials based upon industry-defined,
  nationally validated standards
• Purpose Expanded pool of agile production
  workers the industrial athlete of the future
• Scope Uniquely applies to all manufacturing
  sectors and all production occupations
• Goal Reach 40 of production work force in 10
  years
• Example Successful ASE (Automotive Service
  Excellence) certification

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Elements of MSSC System

• Standards Industry-led, federally recognized,
  nationally validated
• Assessments
• Credentialing and Documentation Up-to
  Production Technician Certification
• Certification of Assessment Centers
• Teacher Certification
• Courses Including multi-media, on-line
• Glencoe McGraw-Hill/MSSC Textbook and Supplements

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WISPASS/MSSC State NetworkWisconsin Performance
and Assessment for Skill StandardsFunded by DOL
Grant MATC lead agency

• Build a constituency and state network to
  implement MSSC Training, Assessment and
  Credentialing System
• Recruit firms, trade associations, unions, and
  Workforce Investment Agencies, and test centers
• Recruit and qualify 600 workers and students for
  MSSC credentials
• Create the Feedback Process on the Training
  Response, Competency, and Productivity
• Promote manufacturing as a career

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WI Training Test Centers

• Milwaukee Area Technical College
• Moraine Park (Fond du Lac)
• Gateway Technical College (Racine/Kenosha)
• Waukesha County Technical College
• Chippewa Valley Technical College (Eau Claire)
• Northeast Technical College (Green Bay)
• Mid-State Technical College (Stevens Point)
• North Central Technical College (Wausau)
• University Wisconsin-Stout (Menomonie)

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Value Proposition Industry

• Meets company needs for workers
• Increases productivity and innovation
• Decreases recruitment costs
• Provides a diagnostic tool to benchmark workers
  against high-performance standards
• Increases ROI for training
• Serves to attract, motivate, and retain qualified
  employees

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Value Proposition Workers

• Offers the only national, industry recognized
  foundational skill certifications for production
  workers
• Improves career advancement opportunities
• Improves job security
• Provides nationally portable credentials

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Value Proposition State Government

• Attracts advanced manufacturing company
  investment
• Broadens the variety of manufacturing industries
  that a state can attract
• Enables dislocated workers from one industry
  sector to acquire the credentials to shift
  readily to other industry sectors
• Thus helps reduce the effect of a downturn in one
  sector by preparing workers to perform well in
  other sectors

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Value Proposition Education

• Increases industry client base and student
  enrollment
• Increases student enrollment through on-demand
  e-learning solutions
• Provides fully developed courses for immediate
  implementation
• Offers high-quality courses with proven results
• Provides teacher certification
• Enables schools to offer certifications as well
  as degrees

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Actions by Harley-Davidson

• For job applicants state MSSC Certification
  Preferred
• Assess group of incumbent Harley workers to
  create benchmark
• Investigate fast track MSSC Training for both
  contingent workers and existing employees to
  enhance their skills and careers
• Use tuition reimbursement for MSSC courses
• Promote MSSC e.g., September 25, NAM Press
  Conference at National Press Club

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Suggested Steps by Others

• To use MSSC System for recruitment, benchmarking,
  and training
• Encourage educators to align their curriculum
  with MSSC requirements and MSSCs full curriculum
• Use on-line courses
• Tech Colleges and Workforce Development Boards
  must work together with Industry to secure
  federal and state funding grants

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For more information on MSSC see folders and
www.msscusa.orgFor more information on
WISPASS/MSSCsee www.matc.edu/wispass