MSS407010A
Improve visual management in the workplace

This unit of competency covers the skills and knowledge required to assess current visual management strategies and techniques in the workplace and improve the application of visual management strategies and techniques and their integration into the overall competitive improvement approach of the organisation.

Application

This unit applies to improving an organisation’s visual management in the workplace. The level of existing visual management is not required to be extensive for the unit to apply. This unit covers examining the workplace to determine the effectiveness of current visual management strategies and tools, the determination of additional/alternative visual management strategies and tools and their integration into overall improvement strategies within the organisation.

The visual management may be applied to the whole organisation or a production area or a support area and can either be active visual management strategies, such as operator controlled status indicators, or passive, such as information boards or information islands containing production and other data, to give employees access to production, occupational health and safety (OHS), equipment availability or other data.


Prerequisites

Not applicable.


Elements and Performance Criteria

1

Determine current visual management activities and information needs

1.1

Identify current visual management activities and provided information

1.2

Establish extent of linkage of visual management activities and provided information to other competitive systems and practices strategies and techniques

1.3

Identify problems and improvements which could be made

1.4

Determine root cause of problems

1.5

Determine visual management techniques and information needs for improvement to occur

1.6

Determine benefit which would accrue from improvement and cost of providing the information

2

Choose which things to display visually

2.1

List all valuable information identified

2.2

Rank possible information based on benefit/cost or other agreed basis

2.3

Agree on the critical information and possible information sources which should be included in the visual management system

2.4

Negotiate the provision of this critical information to an adequate precision and in a timely manner

3

Choose display method

3.1

Choose the most appropriate display method for each item of critical information

3.2

Determine the most appropriate location for the visual display of each item of critical information

3.3

Determine the appropriate source and approving authority for display information

3.4

Review the chosen information, information source, display method and location to ensure the right display of the right information

3.5

Validate data/information as required by methodology

4

Review the results of visual management

4.1

Review actual benefit gained and the actual cost of providing the information

4.2

Validate the appropriateness of the information provided for delivering the intended outcome

4.3

Initiate appropriate improvements to the visual management system

4.4

Follow through on improvement actions to ensure they are fully implemented

Required Skills

Required skills

Required skills include:

cooperating and working with others, both internally and externally to the work group

determining the information to be displayed and location of displays through:

discussions with users

discussion with generators of information (e.g. sales, marketing, production planning or maintenance departments to determine available information)

comparing current state with future state

identifying information-related causes of current problems and non-conformances

determining and communicating to others the purpose of visual management techniques and indicators in the operation, including:

making the problems, abnormalities or deviations from standard visible to everyone and thus corrective action can be taken immediately

displaying the operating or progress status in a easy to see format

providing instruction

conveying information

providing immediate feedback to people

support and create structure and links in process

improving health, safety and environment (HSE) performance

developing agreement on standards and indicators to be used

analysing and planning

communicating across all levels in an organisation using a variety of techniques and media

solving problems to root cause

prioritising improvements and problems according to impact on value creation

Required knowledge

Required knowledge includes:

concept of value and value add in terms of the customer

understanding of the organisation’s operations and processes subject to visual management

visual management techniques, including:

comparators, status and indicators

colour standards and standard signalling tools

and-on lights (visual alarm of a problem – manual or automatic actuation, may also include audible alarm)

the use of tags, labels and similar

visual management strategies to provide information to employees, including:

to provide status at a glance (normal versus abnormal conditions/quality)

to reinforce standard work

to predict quality/productivity problems

to provide instructions, directions and reminders

to inform, alert and motivate workers

as a safety and environmental tool

the application of visual management as part of:

5S and, 5S audits

quick changeover

proactive maintenance

kanban

flow

waste walks

kaizen and kaizen blitz events

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:

assess current visual management displays, strategies and effectiveness

determine visual management improvement strategy

undertake visual management improvement

implement (or initiate and follow through on the implementation of) the actions which flow from the visual management project

examine the outcomes and identify improvements.

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 language and literacy capacity of the candidate 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

Method for displaying information

Method for displaying information may include:

colour coding

pictures/graphics

kanban cards

coloured lines

signage

labelling

control boards

area information boards

gauges and dials

checklists

Gantt charts

Where to display

Information may be displayed:

at the machine or cell/on the plant or equipment (e.g. performance feedback and process conditions)

at a workstation (e.g. work instructions)

on a control panel

centrally (e.g. general plant or team information)

visible to all (e.g. and-on lights and HSE alarms)


Sectors

Unit sector

Competitive systems and practices


Employability Skills

This unit contains employability skills.


Licensing Information

Not applicable.