"GREEN" Manufacturing Certification Possible

Manufacturing Engineering, Jun 2008 by Handy, Rod, Whitt, Michael, Boregowda, Satish, Kraebber, Henry, Bozic, Christy

SME is teaming up with a technical engagement group from Purdue University on the development of a Green Manufacturing Skills/Specialist Certificate Program. After completion of an extensive competency and outcome assessment by SME Certification, this program could lead to a full-blown, professional certification program in the area of green manufacturing. The development of this certification is of particular interest to the Society.

This innovative program will initially provide for the training of employees within the 14 counties included in the North Central Indiana Western Indiana Regional Economic Development (WIRED) region. The short-term goal will be to provide training to 250 employees and a minimum of 14 organizations (at least one per county) by January 1, 2009, establishing the foundation for the long-term goal of providing additional training to 3000 employees and 150 organizations nationwide by January 1, 2012. Results of the training will be demonstrated via metrics encompassing varied sectors, including financial, operations, and design measures.

The ultimate objective of this program is to provide the educational background necessary for all interested program attendees to seek out professional certification in green manufacturing. Based on literature and pilot-feedback data, as well as SME-developed feasibility, competency, and validation studies, SME Certification will determine the merit of creating a professional certification in green manufacturing. Companies and employees chosen from the 14county North Central Indiana WIRED Region will be considered as the pilot group for the potential nationwide certification effort. The workforce trained in this WIRED pilot program will initially receive a regional Purdue certificate in green manufacturing skills/specialist through the Purdue Technical Assistance Program (TAP) and/or the Purdue Office of Continuing Education. If found feasible, and prior to the subsequent extension of the training outside the pilot region, the certification will be in place, with requirements being common and based on the feasibility and competency studies, as well as the project outcome assessments conducted in the 14-county North Central Indiana WIRED Region.

The pilot training, leading to the certificate in green manufacturing, would be offered to advanced manufacturing facilities in the 14-county WIRED designated area. A special group of companies has been targeted, including those that have sought ISO 14001 certification or those intending to do so in the near future. Two types of certification will be offered: one at the generalist level (Green Manufacturing Skills Certificate) and a second at the specialist level (Green Manufacturing Specialist Certificate). The "skills" level would require three days of training, while the "specialist" level would require an additional two days of specialized training, primarily in the area of engineering economics, alternative justification, and qualitative/quantitative techniques in project assessment. For clarification, all employees will attend the same training class during the first three days.

Persons undergoing training should come from different categories/levels of employees (i.e., upper management, mid-level management, lower management, team leaders, general production/maintenance employees, etc.). The training would include a three-day training regimen with a site-specific "green" audit conducted at the end of the third day, and a competency exam. These individuals would earn a certificate upon completing the course and passing the competency exam. Trainees at the specialist level would primarily be managerial and engineering personnel with, typically, a few team leaders from the production floor. There will be a follow-up site-specific "green" audit conducted on the last (or fifth) day, with the emphasis being on the qualitative/quantitative techniques and the alternative justification process normally used in project assessments and detailed for the students during this final day of training. The last day will conclude with an exam that will assess the attendees at the specialist level.

By packaging and distributing it through either the Purdue Extensions or other public learning centers, the curriculum will also be made available to a general audience. The course will be produced and videotaped by the Purdue University Office of Continuing Education. Anyone interested in learning about green manufacturing will have the opportunity to access the materials and training. To reach an even larger audience, training materials will be made available through an online, video-streaming format. Eventual dissemination of materials will likely be assisted by such manufacturing resource distributors as the Manufacturing Education Resource Center (MERC) of the National Center for Manufacturing Education (Dayton, OH).

The funding source for this project is the Department of Labor's WIRED program, with the initial effort being administered by Purdue's TAP. In addition to SME and the Purdue TAP, other project partners include the College of Technology and Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology of Purdue University, SME Student Chapter Purdue University-Lafayette S006, the Purdue University Office of Continuing Education, the Indiana WIRED Clean Energy Forum, and Purdue's Manufacturing Extension Program (MEP).