Unit of competency details

Unit descriptor 

This unit covers the skills needed by an employee in a competitive manufacturing organisation which requires the employee to participate in and manage the impact of the implementation of competitive manufacturing initiatives on their own work life.

Application of the unit 

In a typical scenario, an employee in a competitive manufacturing organisation is required to positively participate in ongoing and continuous change in order for them to be implemented successfully. The employee will be expected to deal with these changes as part of a team and to give feedback from their own perspective.

This unit requires the application of skills associated with problem solving, planning and organising and self management for assessing and managing the impact of change on own work. This unit also requires the ability to seek information and feedback from team members on the impact of changes and suggested improvements.

Prerequisite units 

Employability skills 

This unit contains employability skills.

Elements describe the essential outcomes of a unit of competency.

Performance Criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the Element. Where bold italicised text is used, further information is detailed in the required skills and knowledge section and the Range Statement. Assessment of performance is to be consistent with the Evidence Guide.

ELEMENT 

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA 

1. Examine the impact of change on own work practices

1.1. Examine changes to work flow

1.2. Examine changes to equipment/process/physical environment

1.3. Examine changes to work relationship with team members and other teams

1.4. Examine changes to data collection needs

1.5. Examine changed work for impacts on health, safety and environment

1.6. Examine changes to quality requirements

1.7. Identify any additional individual skill needs

1.8. Identify other areas requiring assistance

1.9.

2. Implement change

2.1. Review changes which may have adverse impact with team leader

2.2. Adopt changes to individual work practice

2.3. Seek assistance in gathering/processing data as required

2.4. Implement the data collection/processing and take actions on resulting information in accordance with procedures 

2.5. Seek assistance/training to meet needs caused by change

3. Implement continuous improvement

3.1. Critically examine all changes

3.2. Identify impacts of changes both up and down the immediate value chain 

3.3. Identify areas for improvement

3.4. Make recommendations for improvement in accordance with procedures

REQUIRED SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE 

This section describes the skills and knowledge required for this unit.

Required skills 

• analysis
• communication
• problem solving
• reading and interpreting
• teamwork

Required knowledge 

• current process and principles of operation
• sources of data on the process/plant and possible applications to information
• methods of determining own skill needs and developing skills required
• health, safety and environment (HSE) principles as relevant to own job
• basic continuous improvement principles

EVIDENCE GUIDE 

The Evidence Guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria, required skills and knowledge, the range statement and the assessment guidelines for the training package.

Overview of assessment requirements 

The employee will respond readily to each initiative, making its implementation easier and recommending improvements.

What critical aspects of evidence are required to demonstrate competency in this unit ?

Evidence of commitment to a range of initiatives should be available.

What are the specific resource requirements for this unit ?

Access to an organisation using competitive manufacturing.

In what context should assessment occur ?

Assessment will need to occur in a workplace following competitive manufacturing.

Are there any other units which could or should be assessed with this unit or which relate directly to this unit ?

This unit may be assessed concurrently with any other relevant unit which relates to making a change in the workplace.

What method of assessment should apply ?

Assessors must be satisfied that the person can consistently perform the unit as a whole, as defined by the Elements, Performance Criteria, skills and knowledge. A holistic approach should be taken to the assessment.

Assessors should gather sufficient, fair, valid, reliable, authentic and current evidence from a range of sources. Sources of evidence may include direct observation, reports from supervisors, peers and colleagues, project work, samples, organisation records and questioning. Assessment should not require language, literacy or numeracy skills beyond those required for the unit.

The assessee will have access to all techniques, procedures, information, resources and aids which would normally be available in the workplace.

The method of assessment should be discussed and agreed with the assessee prior to the commencement of the assessment.

What evidence is required for demonstration of consistent performance ?

If evidence is provided from an initial move to competitive manufacturing, then sufficient evidence may come from this initial adjustment. Where evidence is provided from a series of improvements, then it will need to be gathered from a range of initiatives to provide sufficient evidence.

RANGE STATEMENT 

The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. Essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) may also be included.

Managing impact of change 

All Elements may be undertaken individually or as part of a team and may require assistance from the team leader for areas outside the employee's range of responsibility and authority.

Competitive manufacturing 

Competitive manufacturing is used to describe the range of systemic manufacturing practice concepts and approaches. It covers but is not limited to:

• lean manufacturing
• agile manufacturing
• preventative and predictive maintenance approaches
• monitoring and data gathering systems such as Systems Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) software, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP), and proprietary systems such as SAP
• statistical process control systems including six sigma and three sigma
• Just In Time (JIT), kanban and other pull related manufacturing control systems
• supply, value, and demand chain monitoring and analysis
• other continuous improvement systems.

Competitive manufacturing should be interpreted so as to take into account the stage of implementation of competitive manufacturing approaches, the enterprise's size and work organisation, culture, regulatory environment and manufacturing sector.

Procedures 

Procedures include all work instructions, standard operating procedures, formulas/recipes, batch sheets, temporary instructions and similar instructions provided for the smooth running of the plant. They may be written, verbal, computer based or in some other form.

For the purposes of this Training Package, 'procedures' also includes good operating practice as may be defined by industry codes of practice (eg Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), Responsible Care) and government regulations.

Continuous improvement 

Continuous improvement (also called kaizen) - the philosophy of continual improvement, that every process can and should be continually evaluated and improved in terms of time required, resources used, resultant quality, and other aspects relevant to the process.

Value chain 

Competitive manufacturing organisations encompass the entire production system, beginning with the customer, and includes the product sales outlet, the final assembler, product design, raw material mining and processing and all tiers of the value chain (sometimes called the supply chain). Any truly 'competitive' system is highly dependent on the demands of its customers and the reliability of its suppliers. No implementation of competitive manufacturing can reach its full potential without including the entire 'enterprise' in its planning.

Unit Sector 

CM Change/interpersonal

Co-requisite units 

Functional Area