Ordering Skills Standards

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Looking to Enhance Your Company's Training Process?
Let the Metalforming Skill Standards Be Your Guide!

Skill Standards have been written for you!

metal stamping
slide forming
metal spinning
cnc/nc punch press
roll forming
laser cutting
press brake laser cutting
metalforming

Click here for additional information on individual programs.

What a Skill Standard is:
It is a description of work to a specified level of performance. Metalforming Skill Standards describe in detail the tasks a worker must be able to perform and the skills and knowledge that person must have to set up and operate the metalforming equipment in your facility. These standards help employers assess their employees' abilities and training needs.

How They Were Created:
Metalforming Skill Standards have been created by the industry in a three-step process.

Written by setup and production employees, supervisors, company trainers and educators representing companies throughout the country.
Validated and amended when necessary by a large sampling of operators, setup technicians and company management in companies like yours throughout the country.
Approved by the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS) and published by PMA.

Who Can Use Skill Standards:

Employers: Educators: Employees:

Determine training needs and objectives

Use as criteria for assessing job performance

Use as criteria for hiring or advancement

Measure progress of trainees

Plan school-to-work programs

Design curricula in cooperation with local metalformers

Assess skills

Plan equipment needs

Set program objectives

recognize skills

create guidelines for career planning

enhance marketable skills

provide guidance toward credentialing

The Format:
Skill levels are being developed for the metalworking industry to reflect degrees of competency necessary for performance of duties. Levels for metalforming skills are as follows:

Level I Metalforming Skills include basic skills such as communication, math, problem solving, blueprint reading, measurement, and basic manufacturing-related theory. These Level I skills are the basic skills which support all of the process-specific skills. They define the skills and knowledge necessary for an entry-level employee into any metalforming environment.

Levels II and III Skills are skills specific to operators and setup technicians for each of the metalforming processes. Stamping, Press Brake, and Slide Forming each have a Level II for operation and Level III for setup skills. In each case both levels are incorporated into one book. Metal Spinning, Roll Forming, CNC/NC Punch Press, and Laser Cutting incorporate all appropriate skills into one Level II document for each process.

What is a Skill Standard?
See the article "Skill Standards Training Pathway" from the February, 1997 issue of MetalForming magazine.

Click here for additional information on individual programs.

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