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MSSC Testing and Certification
 MSSC System Overview
The Manufacturing Sills Standards Council (MSSC) is a nationwide, industry-based Skills Standards, Assessment and Certification System for all sectors of manufacturing. Formed in 1998, federally recognized as a voluntary partnership for manufacturing under the auspices of the National Skill Standards Act, the MSSC is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that brought together nearly 400 companies and 200 leading organizations that can reach the majority of the nation's 400,000 manufacturers and 15 million manufacturing workers. The MSSC is a unique business, labor, education, and government partnership built by the National Coalition for Advanced Manufacturing (NACFAM) and the AFL-CIO's Working for America Institute (WAI).
The MSSC System measures and certifies the foundational skills and knowledge of students, educators and frontline production workers from entry-level to first line supervision in all sectors of manufacturing. The system includes assessments in four modules: Manufacturing Processes and Production, Quality Assurance, Maintenance, and Safety. MSSC is more than developing an individual skill standard; it is about establishing a Skills Standard System.
Examples of some major companies and organizations
that have participated in the MSSC System:
- From business: Boeing, Caterpillar, Compaq, Corning, DaimlerChrysler, Dow Chemical, Ford, GM, Harley-Davidson, Honeywell, IBM, Intel, Kodak, Lockheed Martin, Motorola, Northrop Grumman, Pitney Bowes, Rockwell Automation,...
- From labor: AFL-CIO, Auto Workers, Chemical Workers, Electrical Workers, Machinists, Paper-Allied-Chemical-Energy, Sheet Metal Workers, Steel Workers,...
- From professional societies: American Productivity and Inventory Control Society, IEEE, Society of Manufacturing Engineers,...
- From technical education: American Association of Community Colleges, Association for Career and Technical Education, State Directors for Vocational Technical Education, Skills USA-VICA,...
- From community and state-based organizations: National Association of Workforce Boards, State and Local Workforce Investment Boards, Goodwill Industries, National Urban League,...
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Other elements of the MSSC Certification System are standards definition, MSSC-certified assessment centers, an MSSC-authored textbook published by Glencoe McGraw-Hill, an instructor resource guide, employer leadership, union engagement, marketing, system coordination, and quality control.
MSSC provides the manufacturing industries with a new set of tools to ensure the entering and incumbent workers are flexible, easily trainable, and highly motivated "knowledge workers" in the high performance work organizations of the 21st Century.
Advantages of the MSSC Certification System:
- Enable employers to make faster, better hiring decisions.
- Equip workers with the foundational skills and knowledge to facilitate innovation and keep at pace with technological change.
- Enable workers to demonstrate to employers that they meet industry standards for excellence, helping them to get potential jobs and promotions. Because these credentials are industry wide, they will be highly portable, making job opportunities accessible in different segments of the manufacturing industry.
- Enable individuals to measure their skills against the standards and gain valuable information that can be used to better train and educate decisions and improve their performance.
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Other Advantages:
- Decrease recruitment cost by providing industry-led credentials that manufacturers can use in applicant screening process.
- Increase ROI for training by targeting skill enhancement to the most critical job-related success factors (the "must know" and "must do") and by providing a diagnostic tool to benchmark those factors against a high-performance national standard.
- Enhance the attractiveness and professionalism of manufacturing jobs, thereby aiding manufacturers in securing employee motivation and retention.
- Provide workers with portable, nationally recognized skills documentation
- Enable educators and trainers to align curriculum with industry needs.
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For more information, contact:
Linda Isai
Cerritos College Economic Development MSSC Assessment Program
Phone: 562-860-2451 ext. 2486 | Email: lisai@cerritos.edu
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