NIMS, Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow (LIFT) - one of the new national manufacturing innovation institutes - and Ivy Tech Community College, have announced the launch of a new program to train community and technical college instructors as well as industry trainers in industrial technology maintenance. "The program is part of a comprehensive effort to prepare a new industrial technology maintenance workforce, which drives the performance and improvement of high-tech manufacturing, and has grown in demand by 118% from 2011 to 2015 in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee," said a spokesperson.
The effort is bringing additional training and credentials in industrial technology maintenance (ITM) to market across states along the Midwest auto corridor and nationally. The components of the partnership include: rolling out industry standards for educating and training the industrial technology maintenance workforce; developing nationally-portable, industry-recognized skills credentials based on these standards; training instructors from community colleges across the entire region; and equipping a competent workforce with the knowledge, skills and credentials they need to enter into and advance in the field.
"In 2015, there were over 53,000 industrial technology maintenance jobs posted in the region," said Larry Brown, Executive Director, LIFT. "Our manufacturers depend on skilled workers in these jobs to support productive manufacturing and integrate the latest technologies into company processes and maintain their performance over time."
"While employers are facing a real-time skills gap, job vacancies and competitive wages mean that opportunities abound for motivated people looking to secure good jobs in a growing, technology-driven field," said NIMS Executive Director Jim Wall.
Ivy Tech and NIMS have collaborated to launch the ITM workshop series to train instructors - in both educational institutions and company training programs - on how to implement the industrial technology maintenance industry standards into curriculum and deliver the related NIMS credentials to their students. Workshops are scheduled for March 21-23, 2016, and April 18-20, 2016.
"Training is key to ensuring we can fulfill the need for skilled workers throughout the Midwest corridor," said Sue Smith, Vice President of the Technology Division at Ivy Tech.
NIMS has announced a partnership with Amatrol to develop multi-media training materials to support the NIMS ITM certifications. Amatrol's e-learning suite includes industry-validated, interactive content like 3-D simulations, videos and quizzes that align with the nine NIMS ITM Level I certifications. Also included in the suite is an on-the-job training (OJT) guide to assist companies in adapting the credentials to OJT training experiences.
"NIMS has taken a major step forward to help the industry address the critical shortage of skilled technicians. NIMS' approach of creating a multiple-credential, industrial maintenance certification will more quickly qualify people for well-paying jobs," said Paul Perkins, President, Amatrol. "The selection of Amatrol as the e-learning provider for the program will ensure that the credentials and training curriculum emphasize hands-on, job ready skills."
NIMS and LIFT are looking for training providers and employers to pilot the newly-developed credentials beginning this spring. For more information on how to pilot the credentials, contact NIMS Director of Marketing, Christine Hubley, at chubley@nims-skills.org.
For more information contact:
NIMS
10565 Fairfax Blvd., Suite 10
Fairfax, VA 22030
703-352-4971
support@nims-skills.org
www.nims-skills.org
www.nimsready.org
Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow
Emily DeRocco
LIFT Education & Workforce Director
ederocco@lift.technology
www.lift.technology
Ivy Tech Community College
www.ivytech.edu
Amatrol, Inc.
Joe Reid
Vice President
812-288-8285 ext. 239