BSA's Certified Bearing Specialist Program
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Knowledge is Power
BSA's Certified Bearing Specialist (CBS) program is the only bearing industry-specific program that identifies and quantifies the specific skill sets to certify an industry professional as a bearing specialist. |
For individuals, certification delivers professional recognition for your knowledge and technical competence.
For employers, certification promotes your company's industry expertise and can differentiate your company from the competition.
For manufacturers, certification offers your employees a broader range of bearing knowledge, giving them the competitive edge in "bearing know-how". |
- Raises professionalism
- Increases employee pride
- Provides a competitive edge
- Promotes focus on product features and benefits
- Reduces customer's overall cost
- Establishes the association as an important standard-setting body for professional competence in the bearing field
Allied Bearings Supply Co., Inc.
Applied Industrial Technologies
BC Bearing Engineers
BDI Canada, Inc.
Bearing Belt Chain Co., Inc.
Bearing Headquarters Company
Bearing Service, Inc.
Bearings & Drives, Inc.
Bearings Specialty Company
Canadian Bearings Ltd.
Dixie Aerospace
Erie Bearings Company
Gopher Bering Company
Hagemeyer North America
IBT, Inc.
Interstate Bearing Technologies
Kaman Industrial Technologies
Miller Bearings
Minnesota Bearing Company
Motion Canada
Motion Industries, Inc.
NSK Canada
The Timken Corporation
Transmission Supplies Ltd.
US Bearings & Drives
"Bearings & Drives employee’s have really engaged the CBS program with both Inside and Outside Sales people. We now have over two thirds of our outside sales force that are certified. It has become more of a competitive atmosphere in the branches to be certified which I think is great. Our customers, and quite frankly some of yours, have commented on a distinct difference they see in the quality of the people that we have and the commitment that we have as a company when it comes to training our people. This program has created a motivational excitement to the point that we have added this to our in house training / incentive program. This means that if an employee completes our training and takes the next step to attain the prestige of being a CBS, they can give themselves an automatic raise. We feel this certification reflects on our company, our people, our industry and our commitment to have the best people in the business servicing all of our customers and I hope you all feel the same about that."
Howard Gainey
Bearings & Drives, Inc.
"We have made a real commitment to encourage all of our staff at BDI to pursue BSA's Certified Bearing Specialist designation. Our customers appreciate the confidence certification brings to their business, and, I believe, our employees are genuinely proud of their accomplishment when they become certified. Our goal is to certify all BDI Canada sales personnel."
Cameron Lawrence
Bearing Distributors Inc. (OH); BDI Canada, Inc.
"Like all of BSA's educational materials, the Certified Bearing Specialist program offers carefully assembled, technically appropriate information in an easy-to-use format. Our employees have been surprised both by what they already know and what they have learned from the program. It's affordable compared to other training options, and it's targeted to the bearing industry like nothing else is. At first our customers were pleasantly surprised by the certification designation; now I think they're beginning to expect it!"
Bruce Hill
Minnesota Bearing Company
"In a large company like Motion Industries with hundreds of branch locations, BSA's Certified Bearing Specialist program establishes an important training benchmark. Certification assures our many customers that all of those Motion Industries employees have the training and education to meet their needs. We also believe that the opportunity to pursue certification is an important benefit to offer Motion employees."
Bill Stevens
Motion Industries, Inc.
"BSA's Certified Bearing Specialist program has become a valuable asset to Bearings & Drives. The self-study nature of the program encourages our employees to pursue certification as their schedule permits. The credibility certification lends our company and its representatives is especially welcomed by our international business partners."
Andy Nations
Bearings & Drives, Inc.
Developed by professional bearing experts with the assistance of Southern Illinois University (SIU), the CBS examination tests the necessary skill sets to certify an individual's reliability in meeting customers' growing demands, and those required to successfully perform the role of Bearing Specialist.
CBS testing is offered throughout the U.S. by NICET. To find test dates and locations, go to www.nicet.org, click on Candidates and select Apply for Testing & Certification and then Scheduling an Exam. Search by State to determine test dates and locations that are convenient.
BSA also has testing arrangements with a number of colleges and universities in each Canadian province and will make arrangements with additional facilities as needed.
The CBS exam has 75 questions and candidates have up to 3 hours to complete it.
CBS candidates receive the Study Guide and sample tests. The Study Guide prepares applicants for the certification exam by leading them, step-by-step, through tasks, outcomes and review questions on a representative sample of the technical information addressed by the certification exam itself.
Four pretests help applicants determine when they are ready to take the final test. Applicants take one pretest before they begin the program to measure their strengths and weaknesses. They take a second pretest after completing the study guide to see what they have learned from their study. The third and fourth pretests serve as a means of review before taking the final certification test.
BSA also publishes a "Certification Update" newsletter that is available only to Certified Bearing Specialists and includes important new technical information.
* Today, over 235 Certified Bearing Specialists have been successfully tested and more are scheduled to take the exam. We look forward to many more based on the growing number of requests for In-House Training Guide materials, the pre-requisite for BSA's CBS program.
* We know certification provides the value-added benefit of industry expertise and problem solving in an increasingly competitive marketplace because our members and their customers tell us.
* More and more companies are making the commitment to certify sales, service and applications engineers, field service technicians, technical support specialists, inside & outside sales representatives, and account managers.
* To maintain the highest integrity for the program, each Certified Bearing Specialist is required to renew their certification every five years. The recertification process involves submitting a problem and solution or a story about how the applicant has added value through being a CBS.
Click here to download a CBS Application
Click here to download a CBS Brochure |
