How can adoption and implementation of SACA certifications speed up young talent development towards in-demand technical positions in the process industry?
Certifications can benefit technical roles for Endress+Hauser and sales representative partners
Andrew Castner | SACA National Conference
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About me: Andrew Castner
Workforce Development Partner, Endress+Hauser USA
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From Entrepreneurship to Workforce Development
Second year with Endress+Hauser as Workforce Development Partner, building talent pipelines from elementary school to graduation.
Long career as small business owner of multiple breweries and restaurants developing young talent to valuable technical positions.
Indiana University graduate, brewer for 20 years, small business owner for 14 years, Dad to 2 kids, and a grade school robotics coach.
I have performed many functions of HR and talent development throughout my career in small business. The key to efficient training is a great process!
About Endress+Hauser: People for Process Automation
A family-owned global leader in measurement instrumentation, services and solutions.
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Founded in 1953
Georg H. Endress and Ludwig Hauser founded the company in Loerrach, Germany.
Family owned
The largest family-owned business in process automation, built for long-term independence.
Global scale
129 companies in 54 countries and more than 18,000 employees.
In the U.S. since 1970
U.S. headquarters in Greenwood, Indiana, with more than 700 employees nationwide.
Made in the U.S.
Over 83% of instruments sold in the U.S. are made in the U.S., backed by a nationwide service network.
In June 2026, we opened the Endress+Hauser USA Innovation Center in Greenwood, including our brand new Design and Innovation Studio.
What we make: process measurement instrumentation
Field instruments, analytics, system products and services that make processes measurable, safe and efficient.
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Core field instruments
Coriolis and electromagnetic flowmeters, radar level, pressure transmitters and thermometers.
Liquid and gas analysis
pH, conductivity and dissolved oxygen sensors, gas analyzers, Raman and TDLAS optical analysis.
Systems and software
Data acquisition, recorders, transmitters, system components and Netilion IIoT software.
Services and calibration
ISO/IEC 17025 lab and field calibration, commissioning, maintenance, and Process Training Units.
These are exactly the technologies a SACA process instrumentation credential asks a learner to wire, calibrate and troubleshoot.
Who we serve: wide array of customers across industry
Our customers run plants where measurement decides product quality, safety, efficiency and compliance.
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Industries we serve
Food and beverage
Life sciences and pharmaceuticals
Pulp, paper and primaries
Chemical and petrochemical
Mining, minerals and metals
Power, energy and refineries
What we measure for them
Flow
Level
Pressure
Temperature
Analytical
Data management and Services
Water and wastewater
Oil, gas and marine
Endress+Hauser Workforce Development Programs
We develop talent from elementary school through full-time careers with numerous schools and industry partners.
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Programs we run
IN-MaC Design and Innovation Studio
Community Career and Education Forum
High School Job Shadows and Capstones
High School Internships
College Internships and Co-ops
College Job Shadows and Capstones
What these deliver
A pipeline for hard-to-fill technical roles
Hands-on learning on real instrumentation
Interns delivering 60+ projects each summer
Co-ops and interns converting to full time
Partnerships with local school teachers and students
A new facility coming for an expanding apprenticeship program
German and Department of Labor
registered Apprenticeship program
NEXUS Rotational Program
STEM Associate Program
Roadmap: 4 questions, 1 model
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01
What are SACA certifications?
What the credential system validates and how process instrumentation standards are organized.
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What problem do they solve?
Why process industries need a better readiness signal for young talent.
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How do we implement them?
The school + equipment + curriculum + employer partnership model.
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What are the benefits?
How schools, students, Endress+Hauser, and rep partners all can win.
Target outcome: a practical adoption path that can start with one school, one training unit, and one employer champion.
SECTION 01
How can we use SACA certifications?
SACA provides a standards-based way to validate hands-on smart automation and process instrumentation skills.
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SACA Certifications use in our Industry talent pipelines
A credential is valuable when it changes both preparation and hiring decisions.
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SACA turns “promising candidate” into “validated starting point.”
Students get a resume signal tied to real hands-on process control skills.
Schools get a standards-based pathway that industry can recognize.
Endress+Hauser and rep partners get a faster, more reliable way to evaluate potential technical talent.
Sources: SACA Presentation Notes; SACA hiring certification article; SACA process control credentials article.
SACA is a common language for verified technical skills
It connects what schools teach, what students can prove, and what employers need to hire.
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Smart Automation Certification Alliance
SACA credentials validate industry-relevant smart automation and process control competencies.
The audience spans academics, instructors, students, and industry professionals.
The practical value is a portable signal: a learner has demonstrated a defined skill set before the interview or first day on the job.
The credential only matters if industry uses it as a hiring and development signal.
Process Instrumentation Standards can be the Bridge
SACA’s process control credentials translate plant realities into assessable micro-credentials.
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Process instrumentation
C-261 Process Measurement Instrumentation 1
C-262 Process Measurement Instrumentation 2
Basic process control
C-270 Flow and level
C-271 Temperature
C-272 Pressure
C-273 Analytical
C-274 Troubleshooting
C-275 Data acquisition
Advanced process control
C-234 Smart valve positioners
C-235 IO-Link instrumentation
C-236 Visualization and data acquisition
C-237 Smart process control systems
Micro-credentials are useful for our industry because schools can sequence them and employers can recognize them one skill family at a time.
Ready for use
Pilot testing
In development
New certifications overview
What can the newly released certifications bring to the process industry?
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C-261
Hiring managers get proof a technician can actually configure a transmitter and read a P&ID, and we know new techs are fluent in tags, loops, and HART.
C-262
C-262 is all about the full measurement stack and proves techs can actually commission and troubleshoot the instruments including reported training gaps in pressure, temperature, flow and level.
Both certifications turn "we need instrumentation techs" into a defined, testable skill set that schools can teach to and plants can hire against.
A good credential does three jobs at once for our industry
It aligns instruction, practice, and hiring around the same competency standard.
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Defines the skill
The standard names what learners must know and do, instead of relying on vague “technical aptitude.”
Validates performance
Hands-on assessment gives employers evidence beyond a résumé keyword or course title.
Signals readiness
A credential gives schools and employers a common starting point for internships, apprenticeships, and entry roles.
For Endress+Hauser and rep partners, the “readiness signal” is the lever: it can shift recruiting from guessing to verified baseline capability.
SACA works for us because each stakeholder gets a different kind of value
The same credential can motivate learners, structure school programs, and reduce employer uncertainty.
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Students
Resume builder; clearer idea of the job; confidence that skills are recognized outside the classroom.
Instructors
A standards-backed structure for what to teach, practice, and assess.
Schools
Curriculum relevance, industry partnership, and a stronger value proposition for technical pathways.
Industry
A practical pre-screen and shared baseline for technician, automation, and field service roles.
SECTION 02
What problem do they solve for us?
They address the gap around us between industry growth and the available supply of verified technical instrumentation talent.
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The core problem: growth is outrunning verified readiness
The gap is not interest alone; it is demonstrable technical instrumentation capability.
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Industry growth
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Retirements
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Thinner applicant pool
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Skills void
The technical roles are available; the validated starting points are scarce.
Process control technician
Instrumentation technician
Automation technician
Field service technician
SACA does not replace company-specific training. It accelerates the first mile by proving a shared baseline.
Traditional hiring struggles when skill is hard to see
For automation roles, résumé language can outpace demonstrated capability.
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Before credentials
Screen resume for technical
background and course knowledge
Interview for terminology
Discover skill gaps after hire
With credentials
Screen for proven tasks
Interview deeper, faster
Start onboarding from an accelerated baseline
Credentials can act as a pre-screen that tells employers a candidate has already proven what they can do.
The pain shows up in very practical roles for us
These are the roles where a verified baseline can reduce learning curve and increase hiring success.
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Field service
Calibrate, repair, troubleshoot and support instrumentation in customer environments.
Process control
Understand measurement, control loops, and process behavior across flow, level, pressure and temperature.
Automation
Connect instrumentation to controllers, networks, diagnostics and data acquisition.
Skids and panels
Build, wire, test and commission packaged process systems with repeatable quality.
Our sales rep partners such as GE Booth and Carotek value these credentials on resumes for technical support roles.
Process industry partners cannot grow without skill confidence
The workforce gap matters because process control work is central to high-demand industrial sectors
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Skills that translate to our jobs
Hands-on work
Basic electrical and wiring
STEM and troubleshooting mindset
Detail orientation
Computer and diagnostic literacy
Comfort in plant environments
SECTION 03
How should we implement them in our industry?
Start small: one training pathway, one school partner, one employer demand signal, and one credential sequence.
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The implementation stack has three layers
Equipment, learning content, and credentialing must reinforce each other.
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1
Training units
Hands-on devices and lab environments where learners practice real instrumentation tasks.
Endress+Hauser equipment can make Gold certifications visible and relevant.
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Learning content
Instructor materials, multimedia, practice labs, and aligned curriculum that build skills before the exam.
Amatrol/SACA content and instructor support fill this layer.
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Certification
Micro-credentials and exams that validate the skill set and make it portable to employers.
SACA membership and testing make the signal usable.
What does the training look like?
Endress+Hauser and Amatrol collaborate to design training solutions
T5600 Training Unit
With custom training solutions that are designed to the new standards, instructors can lead students through hands-on labs and assessments that prepare the future workforce for multiple levels of certification.
Simple operating model:
certify → equip → credential → employ
Implementation is a practical four-step chain.
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1
Teacher gets certified
Instructor can teach and assess to the standard.
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School gets equipment
Hands-on lab makes skill practice real.
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Student gets certifications
Learner leaves with a portable readiness signal.
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Industry gets employee
Employer starts from verified baseline capability.
The chain only works if industry participates before the student graduates.
Serve on advisory boards
Offer tours, labs and mock interviews
Name SACA credentials in preferred qualifications
The pathway is a partnership, not a handoff
Each partner owns part of the talent-development system.
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Prepared high schools
Expose students early; connect STEM, hands-on work, and career identity.
Technical colleges
Deliver labs, instruction, practice, and credential testing.
Endress+Hauser
Provide demand signals, equipment context, tours, mentors, internships, and hiring recognition.
The best path starts before hiring: awareness, practice, credentialing, internships, and onboarding all reinforce the same skills.
Where our industry can use the credentials
SACA becomes valuable when it appears in real talent decisions.
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Recruiting
Name relevant SACA micro-credentials in preferred qualifications for entry technical roles.
Selection
Use credentials to focus interviews on applied scenarios instead of basic screening.
Internships
Prioritize credentialed learners for technical internships, co-ops, or dual-education apprenticeships.
Onboarding
Map credential evidence to the first 30–90 days of company-specific training.
Incumbent growth
Offer credentials to early-career employees moving toward service, automation, or instrumentation roles.
Start with one job family where the pathway has the largest benefit, then scale across rep partners and schools.
A playbook can start with three practical asks
Make SACA recognizable to the people who hire, train, and supervise early-career technical talent.
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1
Ask for the credential
Add relevant SACA process instrumentation micro-credentials to preferred qualifications and résumé screens.
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Offer the work context
Provide tours, equipment examples, guest instructors, mock troubleshooting, and realistic career stories.
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Close the loop
Tell schools which credentialed learners were hired, what skills transferred, and what gaps remain.
Rep partners do not need a perfect system to begin. They need one visible demand signal and one feedback loop.
Measure adoption by pipeline behavior
The right metrics show whether credentials are changing readiness and hiring confidence.
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Pipeline
Schools offering the pathway; learners enrolled; credential attempts and completions.
Preparedness
Instructor readiness; lab utilization; employer-rated readiness of credentialed students.
Hiring
Credentialed candidates in interviews; hires into field service, instrumentation, automation, or panel/skid roles.
Development
Cut time to productive first assignments; onboarding gaps; increased retention of early-career technical employees.
Partnership
Advisory board cadence; employer feedback loops; internship/apprenticeship conversion.
Track the metrics. Start with a ideal baseline and compare each cohort.
SECTION 04
Benefits for schools and industry
The value proposition is strongest when both sides can name what they gain.
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Credentials make technical pathways more legible
Students can see the career, schools can show outcomes, and instructors can teach to a recognized standard.
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Resume builder: students leave with a signal employers can recognize.
Clearer career identity: process control, instrumentation, automation, and field service become tangible roles.
Curriculum relevance: schools can align labs and outcomes to industry-defined standards.
Partnership story: advisory boards and employer feedback become easier to focus.
Potential wage upside: credentials can support a stronger case for entry technical roles.
For Endress+Hauser and rep partners: credentials reduce avoidable uncertainty
The payoff is a stronger early-career pipeline and a faster path to role-specific development.
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Better pre-screen
Evidence of hands-on competencies before the first interview.
Higher confidence
A clearer starting baseline for technical hiring decisions.
Faster onboarding
Company-specific training can build on validated fundamentals.
Earlier influence
Industry can shape awareness, labs, and expectations before graduation.
Shared language
Schools, reps, and E+H can discuss the same skill standards.
Certified does not equal finished. Certified equals ready to develop faster.
Fit SACA into the broader Endress+Hauser talent-development ecosystem
The credential pathway can complement internships, apprenticeships, service schools, and rep training.
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Early awareness
Elementary through high-school exposure creates interest before college decisions.
Credentialed pathways
Technical colleges and prepared high schools build validated process instrumentation skills.
Work-based learning
Internships, apprenticeships, and co-ops convert credentials into applied performance.
Role-specific training
Endress+Hauser and rep partner programs build product, service, and customer context.
A practical 90-day starting plan
Move from awareness to one pilot pathway that can be learned from and scaled.
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Days 1–30
Choose one role family and one school partner
Target process instrumentation, field service, automation, or skid/panel work where the baseline matters.
Days 31–60
Map standards to labs and employer needs
Align C-261/C-262 and the first process control micro-credentials to equipment, content, and feedback.
Days 61–90
Create the first employer-recognized loop
Publish preferred credentials, schedule employer touchpoints, and define how hires will be tracked.
Which role, which school, and which credential sequence should be the first pilot for you?
Questions?
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