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

Assessors must be satisfied that the candidate can competently and consistently:

coordinate delegated responsibilities for manufacturing operations to the supplying, scheduling and purchasing of priority materials consistent with priorities and product flow

coordinate transfer operations, buffer and emergency stocks

implement constraint and contingency strategies

monitor operations for compliance with organisational policies and procedures, product and process sustainability

communicate, cooperate and negotiate with relevant stakeholders

manage reporting against key performance indicators and organisation requirements.

Context of and specific resources for assessment

This unit may be assessed on the job, off the job or a combination of both on and off the job. Where assessment occurs off the job, that is, the candidate is not in productive work, then a simulated working environment must be used where the range of conditions reflects realistic workplace situations. The competencies covered by this unit would be demonstrated by an individual working alone or as part of a team.

Where applicable, reasonable adjustment must be made to work environments and training situations to accommodate ethnicity, age, gender, demographics and disability.

Access must be provided to appropriate learning and/or assessment support when required. Where applicable, physical resources should include equipment modified for people with disabilities.

Method of assessment

Assessment must satisfy the endorsed Assessment Guidelines of the MEM05 Metal and Engineering Training Package.

Assessment methods must confirm consistency and accuracy of performance (over time and in a range of workplace relevant contexts) together with application of underpinning knowledge.

Assessment methods must be by direct observation of tasks and include questioning on underpinning knowledge to ensure its correct interpretation and application.

Assessment may be applied under project-related conditions (real or simulated) and require evidence of process.

Assessment must confirm a reasonable inference that competency is able not only to be satisfied under the particular circumstance, but is able to be transferred to other circumstances.

Assessment may be in conjunction with assessment of other units of competency where required.

Guidance information for assessment

Assessment processes and techniques must be culturally appropriate and appropriate to the language and literacy capacity of the candidate and the work being performed.

Required skills

Required skills include:

accurately taking large numbers of complex factors into account when planning materials supply

managing and integrating information from a wide variety of sources

managing supplier contracts and arrangements to meet the needs of the engineering and manufacturing operations

developing continuous improvement, problem solving and decision making, constraint and contingency strategies, including short-term planning and rescheduling arrangements

communicating and maintaining information consistent with reporting procedures

participating, cooperating and negotiating with relevant stakeholders

monitoring operations for compliance with organisational policies and procedures, OHS and regulatory requirements, product and process sustainability

contributing to risk management procedures and system maintenance in accordance with organisational procedures

reporting and documenting in accordance with procedures

maintaining records of professional, trades and industry contacts, sources of information and resources

Required knowledge

Required knowledge includes:

sources of information and resources relating to materials supply

personal and team skills and professional development requirements and options for addressing them

operations management structures, labour and skills distribution, functional team relationships, and communications and reporting lines

manufacturing management systems and philosophies relevant to planning and managing materials supply

facilities, plant and services requirements

OHS requirements, codes of practice, regulations, standards, regulatory requirements, risk management, current safe work methods statements, material safety data sheets (MSDS) and work permits

financial requirements relevant to materials supply

engineering approaches and processes underpinning project or manufacture

labour and skills distribution

formal procedures and informal communications and information flow

automation and control technologies relevant to materials supply

software options for tracking and managing of materials supply chain

principles of value chain management, current and future state mapping

requirements for, and functions of, technical and business documentation that may impact on the sustainability of operations

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.

Production

Production in this unit refers to operations requiring major engineering input and significant coordination of suppliers, purchasing and scheduling including:

volume production of components or full items (e.g. whitegoods, vehicles, transformers and transport equipment)

jobbing production

on-site fabrication of engineering-related items

Identify parameters, context and objectives of operations

Parameters, context and objectives to be taken into account may include:

customer requirements

stock levels

production capacity and availability

labour requirements and availability

supplier capacity

warehousing, stores and logistics

Relevant stakeholders

Relevant stakeholders may include:

team

organisation functional groups

supervisors with approval delegation

customers and suppliers

OHS, regulatory requirements and enterprise procedures

OHS, regulatory requirements and enterprise procedures may include:

OHS Acts and regulations

relevant standards

industry codes of practice

risk assessments

registration requirements

safe work practices

state and territory regulatory requirements

Legal obligations of businesses

Businesses have legal obligations under:

contract law

commercial law

company law

fair trading act has customer protection and restrictive trade provisions

environmental planning and assessment act

Commonwealth and state/territory tax laws

industrial law which deals with employee and employer relationships, awards and agreements, trade unions, and their powers and rights

OHS Act and regulations

Records of operations

Records of operations may include:

tenders, contracts and schedules

personnel, resource allocations and financial management procedures

standard operating procedures, including maintenance procedures

OHS committee minutes and actions, risk management and mitigation

documentation and records of current safe work methods statements, MSDS and work permits

standards, codes of practice, audits and meetings

communications, graphics and specifications

Continuous improvement implementation

Continuous improvement implementation may relate to plant, products, processes, systems or services, including design, development, implementation or manufacture, commissioning, operation or delivery and maintenance. Improvement processes may include techniques, such as:

balanced scorecard

current and future state mapping

measuring performance against benchmarks

process improvement, problem solving and decision making

data management, generation, recording, analysing, storing and use of software

training for improvement systems participation

technical training

Constraints and contingencies

Contingencies arising during operations or improvement projects will have constraints on possible solutions. These may be:

financial

organisation procedural or culture

physical constraints such as limits to resources, limits to site access or logistical limitations

Systems thinking

Systems thinking:

is the process of developing solutions within the context of an entire system

recognises that an improvement in one subsystem can adversely affect another subsystem

Lean manufacturing

Lean manufacturing uses cost, capacity and responsiveness, quality, reliability and waste minimisation as drivers of the process and measures for process improvement. Lean manufacturing is the response of many organisations to local, regional, national and global market competitiveness

Software options and the need for validation

Software may be employed for planning, scheduling, and performance analysis/modelling and may include:

enterprise resources planning (ERP), system control and data acquisition (SCADA) and spreadsheets. Underpinning program techniques and algorithms should be understood

Validation techniques include:

comparison of traditional solutions for simple design problems with software solutions to the same design problems

review of previously implemented design challenges which were completed using the software