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
Improvement
Improvement includes:
an improvement in performance of an area/section or the whole enterprise as measured in terms of customer features/benefits
Objective of the experiment
Objective of the experiment may include:
screen factors to find the critical few
optimise a few critical factors
solve process problems
reduce waste
increase reliability
Factorial design
Factorial design may include:
2/3 level factorial
Taguchi L8
2/4-1 half fraction
Plackett-Burman 8-run
full factorial
Signal-to-noise ratio
Signal-to-noise ratio may be estimated from:
previous experiment design experience
previous process capability studies
statistical process control data
estimated from other sources
Resolution
Resolution is typically:
Resolution III design: A design where main factor effects are confounded with two factor and higher order interactions
Resolution IV design: A design where main effects are confounded with three factor and higher order interactions and all two factor interactions are confounded with two factor interactions and higher order interactions
Resolution V design: A design where main effects are confounded with four factor and higher order interactions and two factor interactions are confounded with three factor interactions and higher order interactions
Sequential series of experiments
A typical series of experiments consists of:
a screening design (fractional factorial) to identify the significant factors
a full factorial or response surface design to fully characterise or model the effects
confirmation runs to verify results
Required metrics
Required metrics may include:
quantitative measures normally associated with the process
other quantitative measures relevant to the experiment
ranking systems for normally qualitative measures, such as defectives
Statistics pack
Typical statistics packs include:
minitab
JMP
spreadsheets, such as Excel, particularly with specific add-ons, such as Sigma XL, Analyse It or other add-ons

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 their ability to:
design an experiment relevant to improvement strategies and targets of the organisation
conduct an experiment
confirm results, including conduct of confirming experiments.
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 candidate and the work being performed.