Southern Hills CTC students complete Certified Production Technology class

Southern Hills Career and Technical Center (SHCTC), in conjunction with the University of Cincinnati East (UC East), offered a Certified Production Technology (CPT) program this winter. Eight students took advantage of the free training, and all eight were offered jobs at the end of their classes in April.

Beginning in January, the class consisted of classroom training at SHCTC, as well as hands on-training in the manufacturing lab at UC East.

In order to attend the class, the eight students had to successfully pass three WorkKeys assessments in the areas of Applied Mathematics, Locating Information and Reading for Information.

ACT WorkKeys is a job skills assessment system that helps employers select, hire, train, develop and retain a high-performance workforce. This series of tests measures foundational and soft skills. Successful completion of ACT WorkKeys assessments in these three areas can lead to earning ACT's National Career Readiness Certificate (ACT NCRC), a portable credential earned by more than 2.3 million people across the United States.

The curriculum taught was that of the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) Certified Production Technician program that consists of four critical production function modules: Safety, Manufacturing Processes & Production, Quality Practices & Measurement and Maintenance Awareness.

Upon successful completion of each module, the students were required to take an exam. Once they received a passing score on the exam, they received a certification for that module. After receiving certification in all four modules, they earned the certification of Certified Production Technician. MSSC assesses core understanding of the key work activities and core technical knowledge and skills needed in high-performance manufacturing, as defined by MSSC Production Skill Standards.

This marks the first CPT class held under the partnership of Southern Hills Career and Technical Center and UC East. The class was created to meet the needs of area manufacturers who are facing a shortage of skilled workers due to increased production and natural attrition as many of their employees are reaching retirement age.

SHCTC formed an advisory committee comprised of representatives from local manufacturers, who met on several occasions and discussed the problem and brainstormed possible solutions. The committee approved the MSSC curriculum as representative of the skills needed for the open positions. After months of working on the project, Adult Education Director Vicki Carrington was able to procure grant funding for the first class from Partners for a Competitive Workforce.

Mark Farley, an employee of Milacron, was the instructor for the CPT program. Mr. Farley successfully completed the MSSC training and obtained certification in all areas to be able to instruct the class. UC Clermont Associate Professor Dexter Hulse supervised eight hours of lab instruction at the UC East Manufacturing Center during the program.

A reception was held at UC East to honor the eight students who completed the program. Certificates were awarded by Farley, SHCTC Superintendent Kevin Kratzer and Carrington. Refreshments were served compliments of UC East.

Area manufacturing employers set up tables and were present accepting resumes for their open positions. Companies present included: Milacron, Hadronics, American Micro, Huhtamaki, Hydrosystems, Meyer Tool and Multi-Color.

Students who finished the Certified Production Technician program were Tim Guy, John Guy, Jesse Carrington, Darren Houston, Richard Lang, Art Pharris, Dwight Williams and Tammy Williams. All of the CPT program graduates have had job offers resulting from the class. The next CPT class will be held this fall.

Southern Hills CTC offers an array of adult education classes. For more information regarding the Certified Production Technician class or any other class, please call (937) 378-6131 ext. 357.