NIMS marks 25th anniversary, launches Smart framework

The National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS), Fairfax, Va., celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2020. The nonprofit organization, founded in 1995, provides skills training, validation, and credentialing. It also develops industry standards against which credentialing candidates are tested.

In keeping with the “smart” digital transformation occurring in industry, NIMS has developed new Smart Standards, Smart Training Principles, and Smart Performance Measures as the three main pillars of its framework.

The Smart Standards enable proper training for employees in manufacturing where technology is developing and changing faster than an average individual can master in their career span. Smart Training Principles are the guiding parameters to establish a quality, highly customized on-the-job training program. Smart Performance Measures define, validate, and benchmark employee performance, along with the communication mechanisms needed among organizations, trainers, and trainees.