Certified Production Technician 4.0
CPT 4.0 is a nationally portable, industry-led program that prepares and certifies individuals for career pathways in advanced manufacturing. This online training program delivers the 21st Century, in-demand skills that today's employers need for over 6 million frontline production jobs.
Certified Production Technician 4.0 Training Program | CPT 4.0 & CPT+ 4.0 Skills
In today’s technology-driven society, capturing the attention of high school students can be a daunting task. Active engagement in learning provides students with the necessary skills to competently meet the challenges in today’s workplace. Regardless of their career path, high schools must prepare students who can engage in their work, work effectively with others, identify and solve problems, and continue to acquire the necessary skills to succeed in their work roles.
The Certified Production Technician 4.0 (CPT 4.0) training program is delivered and customized locally through 1,500 MSSC Centers with a network of over 2,300 Authorized Instructors at colleges, secondary schools, and other convenient locations that enable students to build these foundational skills. The program’s interactive multimedia curriculum uses a competency-based instructional design that teaches Manufacturing Skill Standards Council’s (MSSC) nationally-recognized standards. An engaging combination of video, text, audio, 3D animation, and interactive act
For more in-depth explanations and applications of Smart Factory / Industry 4.0, please reference the following articles:
Employer-Preferred, Nationally-Recognized Certification!
Skills for workplace success!
Advanced manufacturing offers some of the highest paying and most satisfying career opportunities available today, such as process technicians, control technicians, and quality control technicians. High school students seeking a career in manufacturing must demonstrate a wide variety of critical technical skills. MSSC’s CPT program provides training and certification in the foundational areas of safety, quality, manufacturing processes, and maintenance.
In addition to teaching foundational technical skills, the CPT training program addresses cross-functional skills, such as communications, teamwork, customer awareness, and workplace conduct. Recognized by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) as the foundation of its National Skills Certification System, the CPT certification is truly a portable credential.
Employable Skills
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Problem Solving
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Decision Making
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Teamwork
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Organization Planning
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Social Interaction
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Adaptability
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Leadership
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Consensus Building
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Career Awareness
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Self-Development
Rich Multimedia + Strong Curriculum = Effective Learning
Engaging content makes students want to learn!
Learning often depends on being able to keep students focused and engaged. Every learner is different, which means that effective learning material must address all learning styles. To this end, Amatrol’s curriculum incorporates text, animations, narration, video, pictures, drawings, and graphics to target multiple learning styles. By utilizing different elements, Amatrol keeps the material fresh and students moving forward, making learning fun!
Animations
Animations are particularly useful in showing a student internal operations of machines and processes.
Video
Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. Amatrol balances use of animation with video to show real world application and hands-on job tasks.
Interactive Exercises
Amatrol’s CPT Program contains many interactive exercises where students interact by pushing buttons, operating devices, identifying components, and more. This interactivity greatly enhances retention.
Curriculum
MSSC has partnered with Amatrol, an independent training provider, to develop online interactive learning units for the CPT 4.0 training program. Currently there are 42 online units, each requiring about 2 hours to complete.
These online units are carefully aligned with MSSC Standards to help prepare students with a knowledge and understanding of its four Critical Work Functions: Safety, Quality Practices & Measurement, Production & Processes and Maintenance Awareness. The specific features and benefits of these online units include:
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Increases computer skills
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Develops machine operation skills through computer-based simulations
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Increases access through online delivery accessible anywhere there is an internet connection
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Provides individualized instruction capability
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Enables greater training capacity through virtual delivery options
Certifications
MSSC's full Certified Production Technician 4.0 (CPT 4.0) certification consists of 5 stackable credentials: Safety, Manufacturing Process & Production, Quality Practices & Measurement, Maintenance Awareness, and Green Production. The CPT+ 4.0 certification compliments the full CPT 4.0 credential by providing employees with proof that an individual has the comprehensive technical knowledge and hands-on skills needed to be qualified production technicians.
MSSC delivers its Certified Production Technician (CPT) ® 4.0 courses through well-established training organizations. These courses are designed to align with MSSC Standards and to help individuals enhance their foundational, core technical knowledge and skills for production work from entry-level to front-line supervisory level.
These courses are built upon MSSC’s e-learning which includes modular courses for:
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Safety
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Quality Practices & Measurement
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Manufacturing Production & Processes
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Maintenance Awareness
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Green Production
The online, computer-based simulation training covers the basic and technical skills while providing students and technicians with the knowledge and skills needed to prepare them for an advanced, high-performance manufacturing environment. MSSC strongly recommends that individuals be at a 9th-grade math and 10th-grade reading level before taking our courses.
Modular Courses:
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35-40 hours, 3-credit equivalent
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One course for each of the five CPT 4.0 modules
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Can be given in a blended environment with classroom instruction by an instructor or in a fully online format with an online instructor
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Recommended primarily for students and others studying in the framework of academic semesters or school years, dislocated workers, or career changers
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Production Teams
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Training and Leadership
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Safety Organization
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Personal Protective Equipment
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Fire and Electrical Safety
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Work Area Safety
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Hazardous Material Safety
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Tool and Machine Safety
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Material Handling Safety
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Multi-view Drawings
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Assembly Drawings and Fasteners
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Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing
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Basic Measurement
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Precision Measurement Tools
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Dimensional Gauging
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Quality Systems
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Introduction to SPC
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Control Charts
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Continuous Improvement
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Mechanical Principles
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Mechanical Linkages
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Gear Drives
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Machining Processes
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Machine Tooling
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Machine Operations
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Equipment Procedures
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Production Planning and Workflow
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Production Control
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Welding
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Basic Electrical Circuits
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Electrical Measurements & Power
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Pneumatic Power Systems
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Basic Pneumatic Circuits
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Principles of Pressure and Flow
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Lubrication Concepts
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Bearings and Couplings
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Belt & Chain Drives
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Machine Control Concepts, Automation, & Operation Modes
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Electrical Motor Control
Certification in the use of equipment, technologies, and processes that will improve the environmental performance of manufacturing companies.
Industry 4.0
Based on extensive research with leading industry subject matter experts, MSSC has selected a list of nine rapidly emerging, data-intensive, “Industry 4.0” technologies that will profoundly influence manufacturing production processes and quality control. MSSC has embedded these technologies in its 2020 “Industry 4.0” Edition of its National Production Standards. These technologies include:
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5G
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Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT)
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Additive (3D) Manufacturing
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Autonomous Robots
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Augmented Reality
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Data Analytics
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Nanomanufacturing
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Advanced Materials
As of 2021, these Industry 4.0 technologies are fully integrated into the CPT program. MSSC manufacturing certificates and certifications issued will be re-labelled “CPT 4.0.” MSSC’s goal is to provide CPT 4.0 technicians with a foundational understanding of these technologies on which to build as their companies use them in various ways on the factory floor.
Hands-On Production Training with Amatrol's CPT+ Skill Boss
Built upon MSSC’s well-established Certified Production Technician 4.0 (CPT 4.0), the CPT+ Skill Boss program is designed to prepare certificants with the next generation skills to work in a computer-driven, data-intensive advanced manufacturing workplace.
The centerpiece of this new program is a transformational hands-on training and assessment device, invented by Amatrol, that enables MSSC® to offer hands-on training and assessment as an enhancement to its signature CPT 4.0 training and certification system. Amatrol’s Skill Boss is a computer-controlled machine that performs a wide variety of functions aligned with 55+ skills drawn from the MSSC’s National Production Standards.
As shown in the Skill Boss Brochure, the Skill Boss device is portable, compact, and classroom friendly. Together with its associated programmable logic controller (PLC), Skill Boss fits comfortably on a standard 3’x 6′ table. It is strongly built with industrial grade components to withstand heavy use. Additionally, it is designed to cover many of the core technical competencies related to advanced manufacturing discrete parts and process manufacturing.
Amatrol’s Skill Boss’ colorful and multifacted deisgn will engage students to a greater degree and can encourage them to enter a career pathway in advanced manufacturing. Since it is cost-effective, Amatrol’s Skill Boss will enable many more schools who cannot afford a costly lab or tech center, to offer hands-on production training and testing.
“As an instructor, having Skill Boss will provide me with a functional hands-on teaching and testing tool that will allow my students to learn and demonstrate the valuable skills and concepts of the MSSC CPT 4.0 program.”
-Victor Burgos, Master Trainer, MSSC
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS IN UTILIZING AMATROL’S SKILL BOSS?
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Allows for documentation of 55+ “Hands-on” Skills from MSSC National Standards
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Affordable for lower rural and urban income regions
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Trains and assesses hands-on skills for all sectors of manufacturing
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Increases employer confidence in their workforce and apprenticeship investment by requiring evidence of hands-on skills
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Strong training and assessment tool also for incumbent workers
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Interactive with CPT 4.0 virtual 3-D simulation learning
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Offers students and technicians a robust introduction to mechatronics
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Increases incentive to earn the full CPT 4.0
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Appeals to tactile learners through dynamic learning experience
HOW THE SKILL BOSS WORKS ALONGSIDE MSSC’S CPT 4.0 PROGRAM
The current MSSC CPT 4.0 program remains in full force as a highly successful program for training and certifying individuals with the core technical competencies needed to enter front-line production jobs in all manufacturing sectors. There is no requirement that education and training institutions offering CPT 4.0 will need to purchase a Skill Boss trainer. There will also be no change in the credentialing documentation that MSSC provides for successful completion of CPT 4.0 Modules.
CPT+ is a “stackable” credential and individuals seeking a CPT+ credential must pass the current multiple-choice assessments for all four CPT Modules: Safety, Quality Practices & Measurement, Manufacturing Processes & Production, and Maintenance Awareness.
CPT+ CREDENTIALING
MSSC CPT+ Skill Boss trained Instructors will issue a “MSSC Transcript” to students who satisfactorily complete hands-on training for each of the four CPT 4.0 Modules. MSSC also offers the 4 individual hands-on assessments candidates need to pass to earn the Full CPT+ Certification.
CPT+ INSTRUCTOR TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT
Only MSSC Training Solution Providers are authorized to sell the Skill Boss training device and will be responsible for demonstrating Skill Boss to CPT 4.0 Instructors, for invoicing and collections, and for customer service questions related to Skill Boss. Assessment related questions and orders will be done through the MSSC Headquarter office.
MSSC strongly encourages its interested community members currently and/or previously offering CPT 4.0, to order the new CPT+ Skill Boss Assessment device.
MANUFACTURING THE FUTURE
The Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC), an industry-led 501 (C)(3) non-profit, is America's leader in training and certifying foundational technical competencies for front-line workers for in-demand, higher wage, higher skills jobs in advanced manufacturing and logistics. Workers with MSSC certifications are qualified for 11.3 million jobs in front-line production, material handling, and distribution. 84% of executives surveyed agreed there is a talent shortage in U.S. manufacturing.
MSSC is helping industry close the gap as they prepare to
MANUFACTURE THE FUTURE.
WHY CERTIFY?
EMPLOYERS
84% of executives surveyed agree there is a talent shortage in U.S. manufacturing: MSSC is strategically positioned to help industry resolve this shortage.
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Hands on training and testing device options
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High employer ROI
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Employability skills
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Delivered and customized locally
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Timely and cost effective for students
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Articulates well between high school and colleges
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Integrated into apprenticeships and internships
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Secures pipeline of certified production and logistics technicians
STUDENTS
MSSC Certifications enable students to build lucrative career pathways in manufacturing and supply chain. Immediate benefits include:
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Higher Wages
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Improved Job Placement Rates
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Increased Confidence
WHAT MANUFACTURERS SAY...
The North Carolina Manufacturing Institute conducted a survey of manufacturers the have hired CPT graduates since 2014 to measure overall satisfaction.
"What I learned through MSSC was phenomenal. It definitely changed how I look at manufacturing equipment. I went from being an on/off call maintenance operator, to becoming a skilled, knowledgeable, troubleshooting technician." - Bob, Employee - Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc.
"We've been able to attract some of the most talented folks in the states to complete the CPT certification program and the feedback from employers has been outstanding." - Michael B. Keogh,
Business & Community Outreach Manager - Community College of Vermont.MSSC Center
"My training experts at Harley have high regard for the MSSC. We have already put more than 150 of our workers through MSSC assessments and are using those results to guide our training priorities. We offer tuition reimbursement for MSSC courses and take MSSC certification into account in hiring decisions." - James McCaslin, Vice President - Harley-Davidson Motor Company, WI