Advance Your Career and Your Company’s Reputation With
ACE Accreditation

There’s a lot of competition in the card manufacturing industry, but the ACE designation will set you apart. It’s awarded to people with a broad and detailed knowledge of the industry who successfully complete a rigorous exam. As the demand for experts grows, continual training and expertise are crucial for individuals – and companies – to stay ahead of the pack.

Be Recognized for Your Achievements

 ACE Accreditation for individuals acknowledges:
• Competence
• Dedication
• Commitment

For companies:

ACE Accreditation validates expertise and distinguishes your
employees as motivated experts in the card manufacturing industry.
It also increases customer confidence in your business.

Gateway to Opportunity

ACE – the one card you really need to make your mark in the industry.

People with ACE Accreditation can:

• Use the ACE designation after their name

• Proudly display their ACE certificate

• Put the ACE logo on their business cards

• Enable their company to tout its accomplished staff
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Test Your Knowledge - ACE-M Practice Quiz

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Requirements

The ACE designation is for card manufacturing professonals who have demonstrated abilities and knowledge in technologies and processes in specific card manufacturing areas. Applicants must be working for an ICMA member and have a minimum of three years experience working in the card industry in any of the following areas.

• Card Manufacturing
• Personalization or service bureau
• Supplier to the card industry

Study Guide

Applicants will recieve a comprehensive study guide on CD, oulining general areas of knowledge required for the exam. The guide will not include all the questions and answers because applicants are expected to have gleaned much of their knowledge from hands-on experience in the industry.

ACE Accreditation Levels

ACE-M covers manufacturing topics, incuding lamination, materials, inks, die cutting, mag stripes, ISO standards and printing. Future designations planned:

• ACE-A for advanced card technology, including IC chips, RFID, unique materials and software.
• ACE-P designation covers personalization topics and elements.

Exams

Testing will be conducted at ICMA events, including the EXPO, workshops and other major industry shows.

ACE-M Accredited (list as of June 19, 2008)
Derrick Celewicz, Versatile Card Technology
Julie Hermanson
Matthew O’Connell, Arthur Blank & Co., an ABNote Co.
Guy Meeker, CPI Card Group, Inc.
Mark Powell, Giesecke & Devrient
Mike Sabatini, Perfect Plastic Printing

Daniel Szumski, CFC International
Eric Virostek, Giesecke & Devrient
Jim Ward, Allegheny Plastics Inc.
Del Reyes, Giesecke & Devrient
Barry Mosteller, Oberthur Technologies
Robert Cristinzio, CFC International
Shannon Crawford-Taylor, CFC International
How to Achieve the ACE-M designation - in Four Steps

1. Apply to take the Exam. 

If you or your employee has 3+ years of experience in the card manufacturing or personalization industry, and a broad and detailed knowledge of manufacturing, then log on below to apply for the Exam. Once we have approved the application, we will notify applicants of their acceptance. There is a non-refundable application fee of $50 per applicant. All applicants must be a current employee of an ICMA member company.

Applications are due 30 days prior to testing date. The next testing dates are:

Friday, April 3, 2009
San Juan, Puerto Rico (in conjunction with EXPO)
Application Deadline: March 2
Exam Registration Deadline: March 20

Future test dates will be posted on the ICMA web site. But they will occur at all ICMA events including the EXPO and Workshops.

2. Register for an Exam

Once you are notified that you have been approved to sit for an exam, you must register for an Exam date. The notification email will include a password to log on to the Exam registration web page to sign up. There is an Exam fee of $249 per person. 

You must register for the exam 14 days prior to the Exam date.

3. Prepare

Once you have registered for the Exam, a Study Guide will be sent to you on CD. This Guide is not meant to be an all-inclusive resource for the questions on the Exam. It is just a Guide as to the type of material that will be represented. The ACE-M, which represents the first designation and covers general manufacturing, may incorporate the following areas:

    1. Common Materials of Manufacturing
  1. PVC 
  2. Printing Ink
  3. Adhesive
    1. Common Manufacturing Technologies
  1. Printing
  2. Collation
  3. Lamination
  4. Die-Cutting
    1. Specifications
  1. ISO Requirements
  2. Test Methods

4.  Take the Exam
Arrive at the Exam on time, and bring Photo ID. You will have 3 hours to complete the test which will be proctored. There is a pool of questions to ensure that the exact same questions will not show up on consecutive exams. Exam results will be announced 30 days following the exam date. If someone fails the Exam, they can re-test, following the same deadlines, with a $50 retest fee.
CLICK HERE TO APPLY TO TAKE THE EXAM

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