BSA promotes educational programs

By Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 6/1/2000

Glen Ellyn, Ill.-If knowledge is power, then so is work-related training essential to business confidence.

The Bearing Specialists Assn. realized the value of this relationship years ago. Continuous educational training would be one of the best ways to help distributors keep pace with changing technologies. But compared to other industries, the bearings field lacked a definitive guidebook.

"For years, the machine tool and fluid power industries have had some type of certification for their people," Jim Stickley, Jr., a regional manager for Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. says. But for people "growing up in this industry, ''manufacturers, not distributors, held the leading edge in knowledge."

It was that "need to know," says Charles "Nick" Nicholson of Macon, Ga.-based Bearings & Drives, Inc., that led to the production of BSA's In-House Training Guide and, later, to the Certified Bearing Specialist program.

Nicholson, vice president and director of technical services at Bearings & Drives, helped write the guide. Manufacturers forwarded stacks of technological information to the guide's team of authors, at the BSA's request.

Stickley, a 23-year veteran in the bearings industry, completed coursework in the guide and after further study, earned his certification as a bearing specialist. It took him about three months to do so. Coursework was completed mostly on his own time, with additional study materials available at work.

"I thought it was important that I go for this certification, not only just for me, but I also thought it important for the other associates I work with," he said about motivating others.

Participants complete an exam at the end of each section. Each section must be successfully completed before a person can request permission to study for certification.