Elements and Performance Criteria

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.
Competitive systems and practices
Competitive systems and practices may include, but are not limited to:
lean operations
agile operations
preventative and predictive maintenance approaches
monitoring and data gathering systems, such as Systems Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) software, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, Materials Resource Planning (MRP) and proprietary systems
statistical process control systems, including six sigma and three sigma
Just in Time (JIT), kanban and other pull-related operations control systems
supply, value, and demand chain monitoring and analysis
5S
continuous improvement (kaizen)
breakthrough improvement (kaizen blitz)
cause/effect diagrams
overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)
takt time
process mapping
problem solving
run charts
standard procedures
current reality tree
Competitive systems and practices should be interpreted so as to take into account:
the stage of implementation of competitive systems and practices
the size of the enterprise
the work organisation, culture, regulatory environment and the industry sector
Pull system
A pull system in a operations system is one where:
operations are done to order and not for holding large inventories of parts and completed stock
work flow is done according to demand pull from the next work stage
operations are in response to customer demand
The pull system must be flexible and have cycle times set by parameters calculated from customer demand indicators
Production
Production in this unit is primarily used in a manufacturing sense and may include:
repetitive production of items (e.g. components and whitegoods)
continuous or batch production (e.g. hydrocarbons, chemicals and cement)
The term production may also be contextualised to allow for the unit to be applied to divisions or organisations supplying supporting services (e.g. transport and logistics, and utilities)
Pacemaker
Pacemaker processes refer to:
process or scheduling points which sets the pace for the flow of operations through the enterprise. It needs to be distinguished from processes which are temporarily setting the pace for other processes because of faults, breakdowns, inefficiencies, poor design and/or waste. These should be categorised as bottlenecks and made targets for corrective action.
Types of inventories
Inventories within process may include:
cycle stock which reflects the replenishment quantity and frequency
buffer stock to meet demand variability and forecast errors
safety stock required to guard against quality and delivery failures upstream
Determine cause
Determine cause may include the individual/team leader:
analysing cause themselves
identifying that expert analysis is required and requesting this analysis
setting up an improvement team to analyse cause
identifying that the cause of the discrepancy is upstream or downstream of the team or area
Action required
Action required includes:
actions to align actual and planned rates of production and inventories. The actions will vary and will depend on assessment of the discrepancy and the nature of the operation
Stakeholders
Stakeholders include:
managers
supervisors
employees
shareholders
occupational health and safety (OHS) mechanisms/representatives
industrial relations mechanisms/representatives
suppliers
customers
service providers

The evidence guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria, required skills and knowledge, range statement and the Assessment Guidelines for the Training Package.
Critical aspects for assessment and evidence required to demonstrate competency in this unit
A person who demonstrates competency in this unit must be able to provide evidence of the ability to:
identify the demand pull system used in their area or team
identify pacemaker process
identify types of inventories used by team or area
determine appropriate actions to rectify discrepancies between actual and planned rates of production
implement and monitor changes to rectify discrepancies.
Context of and specific resources for assessment
Assessment of performance must be undertaken in a workplace using or implementing one or more competitive systems and practices.
Access may be required to:
workplace procedures and plans relevant to work area
specifications and documentation relating to planned, currently being implemented, or implemented changes to work processes and procedures relevant to the assessee
documentation and information in relation to production, waste, overheads and hazard control/management
reports from supervisors/managers
case studies and scenarios to assess responses to contingencies.
Method of assessment
A holistic approach should be taken to the assessment.
Competence in this unit may be assessed by using a combination of the following to generate evidence:
demonstration in the workplace
workplace projects
suitable simulation
case studies/scenarios (particularly for assessment of contingencies, improvement scenarios, and so on)
targeted questioning
reports from supervisors, peers and colleagues (third-party reports)
portfolio of evidence
In all cases it is expected that practical assessment will be combined with targeted questioning to assess underpinning knowledge.
Where applicable, reasonable adjustment must be made to work environments and training situations to accommodate ethnicity, age, gender, demographics and disability.
Guidance information for assessment
Assessment processes and techniques must be culturally appropriate and appropriate to the oracy, language and literacy capacity of the assessee and the work being performed.