Skill Boss Gains Positive Media Attention Ahead of Official Launch

Amatrol’s newest product, Skill Boss, created as a hands-on assessment system for MSSC’s new CPT Plus certification, is gaining positive press ahead of its official June 22nd launch at SkillsUSA in Louisville, KY.

President Trump signed an Executive Order to ramp up apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships to help close the skills gap. To aid the President's initiative, on June 22, MSSC and Amatrol will launch a nationwide Certified Production Technician "Plus" (CPT+) credential enabled by a revolutionary hands-on training and assessment device: "Skill Boss." (Please see Skill Boss brochure for details).

The colorful, computer-controlled "Skill Boss" machine is more fun than a robot. By overcoming the negative image of manufacturing and introducing learners to the exciting, digital world of Advanced Manufacturing, "Skill Boss" will attract a far larger number of students and adults to career pathways in manufacturing.

Portable and inexpensive, "Skill Boss" will also enable a much larger number of schools and companies who cannot afford to build a tech center to gain access to advanced manufacturing training and certification.

As a Pre-apprenticeship program - CPT+ "Skill Boss" will:

• Provide employers greater confidence that their new hires will be successful apprentices
• Save companies the substantial costs of providing apprentices with the foundational core technical competencies covered by CPT
• Provide a prestigious CPT industry certification that will motivate students and increase their confidence in succeeding in an apprenticeship.

Registered apprenticeship programs require that the apprentice is employed by the participating company. Yet a robust pipeline of youth and unemployed adults is needed for apprenticeships to help reach the scale needed to close the manufacturing skills gap?defined by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute as two million higher skilled workers in 10 years.

MSSC CPT is uniquely focused on building that pipeline. With a network of over 1800 authorized instructors CPT trains and certifies the entry-level core technical competencies needed for production jobs (over 6 million) in all sectors of manufacturing in over a 1000 locations in 49 states.

As a Registered Apprenticeship: In 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor approved the integration of CPT into the "Related Instruction" portion of the 3000-hour Industrial Manufacturing Technician (IMT) Registered Apprenticeship. This demonstrates DoL's recognition of the value of CPT as a foundational training and certification program for manufacturing apprenticeships.

With its nationwide delivery system, MSSC CPT+ Skill Boss is positioned to help apprenticeships make a major contribution to closing the manufacturing skills gap. Closing that gap will make a major contribution to labor productivity growth and thus to the President's goal of a sharp increases in economic growth?with huge benefits to the nation.

About Manufacturing Skill Standards Council MSSC, a Washington, D.C.-based, industry-led 501(c)(3) non-profit, is the nation's leading certification body for the core, industry-wide technical competencies needed for front-line work in both advanced manufacturing and logistics. It prepares individuals to earn a Certified Production Technician (CPT) or Certified Logistics Technician (CLT). It delivers its training and testing through a network of some 1880 MSSC-trained instructors and 1000+ assessments centers, mostly in community colleges and high schools, in 49 states. MSSC publishes the semi-annual Manufacturing and Logistics Certification Index, which ranks states by the number of people with CPT and CLT credentials and helps companies decide where to locate a factor or distribution center. Visit www.msscusa.org for more information.

Amatrol creates innovative, interactive learning solutions for industry and education to equip people with the skills to master technical systems, solve problems and adapt to a rapidly changing workplace. Comprehensive learning programs range from engaging high school students in the learning of basic science and math to teaching hands-on skills in the latest, highly sophisticated motor drives. Its interactivity, both in equipment and computer-based learning solutions, integrated with strong alignment to industry needs is what makes Amatrol the industry's leading technical education provider. Amatrol's learning solutions include interactive multimedia as well as print-based student learning materials, virtual trainers, teacher's guides, industrial quality hands-on training equipment, and instructor training. Visit www.amatrol.com for more information.