MSS403023A
Monitor a levelled pull system of operations

This unit of competency covers the skills and knowledge required to monitor the operation of a pull system in a work area and recommend improvements.

Application

This unit covers the skills needed to monitor a pull operations system in a work area or team operation although knowledge of the overall pull system in the enterprise is also required. The unit is targeted at individuals, such as team leaders and senior operators, who have an overview of the work area or team operation and the ability to implement corrective action in the event of discrepancies.

The unit covers the skills needed to monitor daily working of the system, identify problems and take appropriate action on problems. The operations system may be a total demand pull system or it may be a mixed push/pull system.

This unit primarily requires the application of skills associated with using information and problem solving skills to monitor pull system and analyse discrepancies. It also requires skills in initiative and enterprise, and planning and organising to determine and act on opportunities for improvement. Aspects of self-management and learning are required to ensure own ability to improve systems.

The unit is based on manufacturing principles but can be contextualised for other types of organisations. For pull systems in an office environment the unit MSS405033A Optimise office systems to deliver to customer demand, should be used.


Prerequisites

Not applicable.


Elements and Performance Criteria

1

Monitor the pull system

1.1

Identify the pacemaker process

1.2

Identify rate of production set by the pull system

1.3

Determine actual rate of production at key parts of the process

1.4

Identify types of inventories within process

1.5

Compare actual inventories with planned inventories

1.6

Note discrepancies between actual and planned rates and inventories

2

Take corrective action

2.1

Determine causes of discrepancies

2.2

Determine action required to rectify causes of discrepancies

2.3

Take appropriate action in conjunction with relevant stakeholders

3

Test/improve the pull system

3.1

Identify recurrent discrepancies

3.2

Determine causes of discrepancies

3.3

Determine action required to rectify cause

3.4

Identify unnecessary levels of inventories

3.5

Discuss impacts of reduced inventories with relevant stakeholders

3.6

Take/initiate appropriate action to rectify recurrent discrepancies/reduce levels of unnecessary inventory

3.7

Monitor the system to determine the effects of changes

Required Skills

Required skills

Required skills include:

identifying order process used by the team or in work area

analysing processes and cycle times and determining the pacemaker process

distinguishing between pacemaker process and bottlenecks

distinguishing between cycle stock, buffer stock and safety stock

leading processes to identify causes of discrepancies

considering a range of appropriate action in the event of discrepancy, including considering the appropriateness of changes to:

production processes

cycle times

equipment and set-up

work organisation

training and skill development of employees

the delegations and authority of the team members or employees in work area and team or work group leader to influence the actions required, for example:

actions which can be sanctioned by the individual team member

actions which can be sanctioned by the team or work group leader

actions requiring management sanction

actions requiring expert intervention

Required knowledge

Required knowledge includes:

operations and equipment used in the enterprise

capabilities of equipment

abilities and skills of personnel

ultimate customer order process and relationship to demand pull for team or area

inventories held by enterprise

stakeholders relevant to team or area

a range of possible actions available to address discrepancies

Evidence Required

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.


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.

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


Sectors

Unit sector

Competitive systems and practices


Employability Skills

This unit contains employability skills.


Licensing Information

Not applicable.