New Initiatives Help Advance NIMS’ Mission

NIMS announced the launch of several new initiatives this month, including an improved testing platform and pilots of two credentials. The organization hopes these moves will advance its goal of providing competency-based skill standards and credentials for the manufacturing industry.

The new online testing center is designed to improve the user experience and better facilitate testing procedures at the more than 2,500 educational institutions and businesses in NIMS’ system. The custom-built platform now includes immediate feedback on tests and an interactive demo environment. Executive Director Montez King says many of the updates were based on feedback from NIMS’ partners. “The new credentialing experience is innately interactive which will improve instruction and training quality, and result in higher pass rates across the US,” he adds. Other new features include the ability to submit performance affidavits electronically, an accessible testing interface with a screen reader and keyboard navigation, and expanded purchasing capability with seat-based subscriptions.

NIMS is also debuting pilots of new credentials for CAM and updated credentials for Machine, Maintenance, Service and Repair (MMSR). The two credentials are the result of partnerships with employers, trade associations and educational institutions, including Autodesk and AMT – The Association for Manufacturing Technology. They are both scheduled to publicly launch in early 2019.