American companies today must compete in a global marketplace. To be competitive, these same companies must have a workplace that functions at high performance levels. The maintenance function is the key to survival in a high performance workplace. Each company must employ maintenance technicians who must develop, retain, and continuously enhance increasingly complex multifunctional skills to perform in an industrial high performance workplace environment. Maintenance engineering technicians are unique in that they must acquire and use basic skills and knowledge, occupation-specific skills, multi-trade skills, and cross-functional skills to keep up with the changing demands of the American workplace. The field of maintenance engineering technology encompasses all of the industry and represents the lifeblood of building and plant facility's operations and operations in production and process industries. The Maintenance Engineering Technology Program (METPRO) at Henry Ford Community College (HFCC) links education, government, business and industry to consolidate the resources necessary to prepare persons to enter, upgrade or enhance their position in the maintenance engineering technology field as high performance multifunctional maintenance engineering technicians (HP-METEC) with the following: 1) Development and implementation of a national standard and certification system and a maintenance engineering technology curricula at the secondary school and community college levels and articulating these programs with related university programs, 2) ensure basic math, science, communications and SCANS considerations are addressed in maintenance engineering technology programs, 3) provide enhanced vision of the maintenance engineering technology field for high school teachers, college and university faculty, 4) provide direct links through partnerships with business and industry to ensure workplace experiences and competencies are part maintenance engineering technology curricula to allow smooth transition of graduates into the workplace and, 5) address the upgrade training needs of experienced workers with ease of access to METPRO courses and its certification system.
