Automation Competency Model assessment.

A review team of automation experts recently convened at the International Society of Automation HQ in North Carolina (USA) to perform the third critical review of the Automation Competency Model (ACM) since its inception in 2008.

The Automation Federation (AF) was invited by the US Department of Labor (USDOL) in 2007 to be the first industry-related technical society to create a competency model using the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) pyramid framework for advanced manufacturing. To this day, ACM remains one of the most downloaded models from the USDOL Careers' site

Team Leader Huffman

In this third review, as in the original and two other previous reviews, USDOL representatives were on hand to assist in facilitation, scribe duties, and guidance on intent regarding certain definitions. Team leader Steve Huffman, AF Chairman of Government Relations and the driving force within AF behind the original creation of the model, remarked that this activity “was the best review of this important work yet thanks to the passion, attention to the details, respectful deliberation, and diversity of professional perspective in the way the team will view the application of the ACM finished product.”

Within this group are five professional engineers, three Certified Automation Professionals® (CAP®), two technology fellows, a doctoral degree holder, two senior educators, and four ISA Fellows. All team members expressed confidence that the improvements made to the ACM are consistent with the latest trends in the automation industry.

The primary task remaining is for all automation professionals to utilize this model to improve their own skills and to gain recognition by all for the inherent value of automation for production safety, efficiency, and capacity and, as opportunities arise, to help educational institutions realize the benefits of the model as a road map to effectively: prepare the next generation of engineers and technicians to embrace careers in automation; build a better path through the formal education process; establish improved job descriptions; better engage young learners early in their education; and connect with military veterans to map their existing skills into the profession.

Automation elevates the roles of all people involved in production, including design, operations, and maintenance by putting intelligence into action. The recognition of the benefits of the automation profession needs to start with parents, students, and teachers, and continue with professors, instructors and ultimately with plant and corporate managers, including those in Human Resources departments. The ACM is the perfect tool to support these activities.

The review team consisted of Steve Pflantz, P.E., AF Chair and Associate at CRB Engineers; Dean Ford, CAP®, P.E., Executive Vice President at Westin Technology Solutions; Steve Mustard, CAP®, P.E., AF Cybersecurity Chair and President of National Automation; Nick Sands, CAP®, P.E., Manufacturing Technology Fellow at DuPont and International Society of Automation (ISA) Fellow; Paul Gruhn, P.E., 2019 ISA President, Safety Systems SME at aeSolutions, and ISA Fellow; Greg McMillan, retired Senior Fellow in Process Control Improvement at Solutia, ISA Fellow, and 2010 ISA Life Achievement Award recipient; Scott Ralls, Ph.D., President of Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA); Phil Mintz, Executive Director of Industry Expansion Solutions IES, the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) for North Carolina; Michael Marlowe, former Managing Director of AF; and Huffman, Vice President of Marketing at Mead O’Brien, Inc., and ISA Fellow.

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Memorandum of membership signed!

The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) has signed a Memorandum of Membership, becoming one of the newest members of the Automation Federation.

The Automation Federation is an association of member organizations that provides awareness, programs and services that continually advance all facets of the automation profession. The Automation Federation serves as the “Voice of Automation” by providing advocacy and industry-wide strategic analysis and coordination through its member organizations.

SME is the world's leading professional society that advances manufacturing knowledge and influences more than half a million manufacturing practitioners annually.

The Automation Federation and SME will work together to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics education (STEM) and the Automation Competency Model to improve the general public’s awareness of automation and technology and to help small manufacturers around the country remain competitive.

“The Automation Federation puts a great deal of effort into communicating the importance of STEM to the next generation of automation professionals,” says Mike Marlowe, Automation Federation managing director. “We recognize that the collaboration with SME empowers the Automation Federation with a larger pool of resources to help us reach our audience and enhances our programs." 

Mark Tomlinson, SME executive director says, “As the world’s leading professional society for manufacturing professionals, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers recognizes the importance of automation in improving the productivity and economic viability of our industry. SME and the Automation Federation are dedicated to working together to promote and advance the automation profession through education, new technology development, sharing our best practices and improving the quantity and quality of the automation workforce for the benefit of the manufacturing industry. Between the two organizations, we reach over half a million manufacturing practitioners, and by partnering, we leverage each other’s respective strengths. We look forward to working with the Automation Federation and its partner organizations as long as possible.”

International automation competancy

Nelson Ninan AF Chairman

The Automation Federation Board of Directors has approved the participation of AF as project leader for a new manufacturing technology project within the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS) program. The purpose of this project is to develop an international network through which the Automation Competency Model (ACM), developed by AF and the United States Department of Labor in 2009, can be disseminated, promulgated, and updated. This network will be called the Automation Competency Model Network (ACMN).

Through the ACMN, partners in non-U.S. IMS Regions and in other countries worldwide will be encouraged to adopt the ACM, adapting it as necessary to local circumstances and using it as the basis for developing training and education curricula as appropriate. This project will operate as an open network, and additional partners from IMS Regions with expertise in automation competencies will be actively encouraged to participate.

Several IMS partners expressed their interest in being part of the ACM Network, and are joining the ACMN project, including Switzerland’s University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI) Institute CIM for Sustainable Innovation (ICIMSI); Mexico’s Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM); and Mexico’s government agency, ProMéxico.

Dr. Marco Colla of ICIMSI stated, “We have a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering with courses and a lab on automation, so our interest [in the ACMN] is having a reference for comparing course content, and maybe, in the future, for creating a specialization (or degree) for automation.”

Nelson Ninin, 2011 Automation Federation chair commented, “I am pleased that the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems program has aligned itself with the Automation Federation to help promote the Automation Competency Model and the importance the Model holds in enhancing recognition of the automation profession. This project will significantly aid AF in spreading our message about the importance of the automation professional worldwide.”