Advanced Manufacturing Integrated Systems Technology (AM/IST)

Beginning in the late 1990's, sectors of America's advanced manufacturing industries began to recognize the need to have skilled employees who were cross trained to perform tasks on electrical, mechanical and electronic equipment used in advanced manufacturing processes.Technology had not only altered the design of equipment and processes, but had also led to the interconnection and integration of machines and systems that were previously stand-alone unit operations.

Effective, efficient, lean manufacturing required that workersbe available tooperate, troubleshoot and maintain this increasinglysophisticated equipment that involved multiple integrated systems. From this grew the concept of Advanced Manufacturing / Integrated Systems Technology which has created career opportunities in this new and high-demand gold collar field.

Subsequently, multi-disciplinary skills have continued to be employed to usher in a new paradigm in machine design that is known as mechatronics. Advanced manufacturers that have employed the principals of mechatronics require technicians and technologists who are equally comfortable with the concepts of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, controls engineering and computer science.

The certificates in Advanced Manufacturing / Integrated Systems Technology offered by the Industrial Maintenance Training Center of PA provide the foundation skills for multi-skilled industrial maintenance and mechatronics.

The Certificate in Advanced Manufacturing / Integrated Systems Technology (now referred to as the level 1 certificate) was created through the joint efforts of industry, education and government by the National Center for Integrated Systems Technology (NCIST) at Illinois State University with $15 million of funding provided in part by the US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. This funding mas made available through the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative for the advanced manufacturing industry sector with a grant entitled "Retraining America's Workforce for 21st Century Advanced Manufacturing Jobs".

Additional grants amounting to $5.8 million funded the creation of educational centers around the country beginning in 2005. These centers, two of which are in Pennsylvania, were authorized to issue the AM/IST Certificate. The Industrial Maintenance Training Center of PA works in conjunction with the AM/IST site at Reading Area Community College.

On February 29, 2008 the NCIST office closed and with support of the Department of Labor, the intellectual property of NCIST was transferred to the Industrial Maintenance Training Center (IMTC) of PA through the Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board.The IMTC has continued to support the AM/IST program, and established an industrial advisory board that oversees and updates the requirements for the certificate. In late 2008, the board approved several variants of the original certificate and approved a Level 2 Certificate for AM/IST which adds additional skills needed along the pathway to more advanced industrial maintenance and mechatronics.