Metal Building System Assembly Training Program

The construction industry, as a whole, is facing an unprecedented shortfall of new workers interested in joining the trades.   

Across the Metal Building Industry, the training challenges include:

• A high level of inconsistency in craft skills
• No standardization of core techniques
• No national database of craft workers
• Stymied recruiting and retention efforts because of the lack of available, effective training 

All of this wastes time and money, contributes to building failures and adversely affects the Metal Building Industry’s reputation.

Members of the MBCEA and the Metal Building industry cannot continue to operate this way.

We need to forge a new future. We need to improve the quality of metal building construction and the training available in our industry. 

We need to help metal building construction workers and aspiring workers acquire necessary job skills and an understanding of metal building construction standards. We need a path to entry.

We need to improve the overall technical and practical training available to metal building workers.

20th century quality initiatives like Lean Six Sigma and others have proven every task — regardless of how often it’s done — requires rules that define the scope, quality, and methods to be followed. When you do not standardize these rules, you cannot ensure quality, you cannot minimize human error. Yet in the Metal Building Assembly industry, we expect each local erector to write their own rules, to figure this out on their own. And we are then surprised by the results.

The industry needs affordable, comprehensive, consistent metal building assembly training, presented in the way students learn today.  

OUR PLAN

MBCEA, MBI and NCCER have embarked on a new initiative to create a complete Metal Building System Assembly Training program that goes deep enough to qualify as a formal apprenticeship program and is robust enough to create craft workers skilled in the unique needs of metal buildings. 

• Safety and building integrity will be emphasized in every module.
• The program will be offered in Spanish and English.
• Instead of textbooks and other outdated ways of learning, it will be presented in a slick, interactive, online learning experience with a hands-on component either in class room or in the field.

We need to inspire, recruit, and train the future generation of craft professionals while shaping positive perceptions of the construction industry.

We must equip the industry with the education and resources necessary to effectively reach students, veterans, families and educators, as well as provide information about the industry and promote construction careers.

The future of our industry depends on standardized skills training presented in the way students learn today.

We seek your support to deliver a transformative learning experience using new technologies that changes the way industry recruits, develops, and retains new workers.  To create a program that will attract new workers, increase safety on our job sites and ensure the integrity of our builds.

This is a million-dollar, multi-year investment in our future.

The Metal Buildings Institute has a commitment from the Ketenbrink Education Foundation to match all funds raised from industry members up to $500,000. We need your pledge today. 

The future of our industry depends on it.

Can we count on your support?

“I would like to recognize BlueScope and Chief as early adopters with financial pledges to support the new MBI/NCCER curriculum. The following companies are true visionaries that understand our industry’s future depends on attracting and training new craft professionals, increased safety on our job sites and the integrity of our builds,” states MBCEA Executive Director Sasha Demyan.