Metal Stamping III

Recognized Skill Standards
May 15, 2012

Background

These national skill standards for the metalforming occupation were developed by the Precision Metalforming Association. The standards are maintained by the National Institute for Metalworking Skills, Inc. (NIMS). They are actively in use as the major centerpiece of new national competency-based apprenticeship guideline standards for press setup operators, and have been incorporated into the programs of the Job Corps of the U.S. Department of Labor and are in use by numerous companies and training programs.

Importance to Texas

Metal formers perform finish-forming, checking and re-forming of machine-formed extruded and sheet metal parts. They form parts to final dimensions using metal forming equipment such as presses, brakes, and rolls.

The metalforming occupation falls into the broad occupational category of machinists. Texas Workforce Commission data reports on a number of occupations related to the metalworking industry, including machinists, machine setters and operators, and tool and die makers. Employment projections for these specialty areas (and several others) are projected to be close to 100,000 by 2018. However, experts reported to the state Senate Committee on Business and Commerce on April 10, 2012, that too few applicants are qualified for existing and projected skilled trade jobs, and that there is a growing shortage of skilled workers in the state. This puts a unique challenge on industry to recruit and train candidates to fill these openings. Skill standards are a way of preserving the knowledge that experienced workers take with them when they leave a job, and a method for transferring that knowledge to new workers, or to help incumbent workers expand their skills and advance in their careers.

Recognition

The metal forming skill standards were originally recognized in Texas in November 2001. In October 2006 and again in May 2012, the skill standards' recognition was extended at the request of the National Institute of Metalworking skills, the nation’s only American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited developer of precision manufacturing skill standards and competency assessments, whose stakeholders represent over 6,000 American companies.