The PMA Educational Foundation, WorkingSolutions is pleased to announce the start up of a contract to design and develop the National Institute for Metalworking Skills' Tool & Diemaker Certification Program. Soon you and the metalworking industry will be able to assess, document and acknowledge the skills, talents and abilities of diemakers through the nationally recognized credentialing programs of NIMS (National Institute for Metalworking Skills).
We are currently seeking companies that would like to participate in this extraordinary project. You can assist in one or more ways. First, you can serve as a “technical reviewer” for the performance assessments (called Credentialing Achievement Records/CARs). This involves having your tool and diemakers go over the performance tests and provide comment and feedback; no travel is required. Second, your company can provide one or even two diemakers or die maintenance professionals to serve on a technical committee to write the written tests applied to the Duties and Standards for Diemaking Skills, Level II and III. A two-day item writing and written exam development workshop will be scheduled in Chicago early this spring (hosted by the Tooling and Manufacturing Association/TMA).
Finally, you can serve as a pilot site for the written test. This involves having your diemakers/die maintenance personnel actually take the test (anonymously “testing the test questions”) - again no travel is required for this activity.
If you are interested in participating in one, two or all of these project activities, please download this file (pdf, 45k).

The PMA Educational Foundation, WorkingSolutions has been awarded a contract from the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS), U.S. Department of Labor Grant to design two competency-based apprenticeship models for Tool & Diemakers and Press Setup & Operation. This competency-based approach will allow apprentices to progress and advance based on defined skills and abilities as opposed to the traditional time-based system (typically 8000 hours). The time-based approach has produced training outcomes which are highly variable, program requirements that differ from one location to another and the U.S. Department of Labor Journey-level Metalworking Certificate does not communicate what skills have been attained and mastered.

Taking the form of Apprenticeship “Curriculum Guides,” PMA will set forth core competencies required of diemakers and press setup technicians, identify specific prerequisites and learning objectives, and list physical resources need to implement the programs. In addition, the Guides will specify the required applied knowledge and related theory criteria, set forth and sequence structured on-the-job training activities, provide interim assessments and measurements used during training, integrate NIMS assessments and benchmark credentials to provide proof of competency after training, and present some available training, education and learning resources needed to administer the each program (e.g., curricula, on-line learning, publications, multi-media systems, correspondence courses, teaching tools, self-study materials and technical programs). For more information about these programs or how you can get involved as a technical reviewer or pilot site, contact Bruce Broman, Director, PMAEF WorkingSolutions at (216) 901-8800 or bbroman@pma.org.

The Expert OJT™ workshop module about how to prepare, write and use job aids has now been translated into Spanish. Although the class will still be given in English, participants using English and a Second Language (ESL) will now have the option to work the module in Spanish. For more information on structured on-the-job training or to schedule a class at your facility, contact Bruce Broman, Director, WorkingSolutions at 216.901.8800 or workingsolutions@pma.org.