MSS408002A
Audit the use of competitive tools

This unit of competency covers the skills and knowledge required to audit the use of competitive systems and practices tools, modify a tool or its application and change the mix of tools used as appropriate. It also covers changing the emphasis and culture away from the use of competitive systems and practices tools as the main focus to taking a whole of enterprise approach with the tools being seen as supporting measures to strategic goals. The unit has a more strategic focus than MSS407002A Review operations practice tools and techniques.

Application

This unit is intended for managers and people with a similar sphere of influence and scope of authority and responsibility. It is focused on auditing the practice of competitive systems and practices and implementing changes identified through the audit. For a more global unit covering developing the strategic approach adopted by the organisation refer to MSS408001A Develop the competitive systems and practices approach.

The unit includes monitoring workplace practice and the application of selected tools and taking action to ensure progress is continuing towards the desired future state.

The unit applies to individuals who are familiar with competitive systems and practices and with a broad range of competitive tools with depth in a moderate range of tools. Where this is not the case the following units which deal more with the selection and introduction of the correct tools for the organisation may be completed:

MSS405001A Develop competitive systems and practices for an organisation

MSS405007A Introduce competitive systems and practices to a small or medium enterprise.

This unit may also be applied to service organisations applying competitive systems and practices principles.


Prerequisites

Not applicable.


Elements and Performance Criteria

1

Establish systems to monitor progress towards becoming competitive

1.1

Determine agreed indicators of progress towards desired future state

1.2

Establish contribution to future state indicators by internal and external value stream contributors

1.3

Capture information showing progress towards desired future state

1.4

Analyse information to determine continued progress towards desired future state

1.5

Ensure there are systems which allow monitoring to proceed routinely

2

Identify areas of operations practice to improve in consultation with work teams and other employees

2.1

Identify work teams, areas and value stream members which could be making better progress towards desired future state

2.2

Examine competitive tools being used and their contribution towards progress

2.3

Examine other work practices and their contribution towards progress

2.4

Manage required stakeholder consultations

2.5

Agree on the cause or causes of progress which is not to plan

2.6

Determine appropriate competitive tools use to improve progress

2.7

Develop an implementation plan

3

Facilitate the improvement to operations practice across the organisation

3.1

Obtain support and necessary approvals from process/system owners

3.2

Arrange for the introduction of new tools or modifications to existing tool practice as required

3.3

Arrange for skills and other infrastructure development, as required

3.4

Consult with stakeholders including value stream members about the impact of these changes

3.5

Manage implementation of proposed changes to tools use

Required Skills

Required skills

Required skills include:

undertaking self-directed problem solving and decision making on issues of abroad and/or highly specialised nature and in highly varied and/or highly specialised contexts

communicating at all levels in the organisation and value stream and to audiences of different levels of literacy and numeracy

analysing current state/situation of the organisation and value stream

overseeing the setting of key performance indicators (KPIs) for future state

interpreting data and qualitative information gained from benchmarking

analysing individually and collectively the implementation of competitive systems and practices tools in the organisation and determining strategies for improved implementation

relating implementation and use of tools to customer benefit

solving highly varied and highly specialised problems related to competitive systems and practices implementation to root cause

negotiating with stakeholders, where required, to obtain information required for improvements, including management, unions, value stream members, employees and members of the community

analysing operational processes in the organisation and value stream and relating to competitive systems and practices tools

Required knowledge

Required knowledge includes:

competitive systems and practices at both a strategic and tools level, including advantages and limitations of:

value stream mapping

5S

Just in Time (JIT)

mistake proofing

process mapping

establishing customer pull

breakthrough improvement and continuous improvement (kaizen and kaizen blitz)

setting of KPIs/metrics

identification and elimination of waste (muda)

six sigma and lean six sigma

best practice in implementation of competitive systems and practices tools

customer benefit as used in competitive systems and practices

ways of determining competency gaps that may act as restrictions in achieving best practice in operations

define, measure, analyse, improve and control (DMAIC) process applied to competitive systems and practices tool use

organisation desired future state in both quantitative and qualitative terms

how to measure progress towards desired future state

formal problem solving tools, including root cause analysis (RCA)

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:

critically examine existing operations and determine correlations to implementation of competitive systems and practices tools

supervise introduction of new tools or modification of the use of existing tools

integrate tools with the overall operations strategy and future state.

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

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

Future state

Future state may include:

process reliability

waste

health, safety and environment (HSE)

maintenance

systems

Codes of practice/standards

Where reference is made to industry codes of practice, and/or Australian/international standards, the latest version must be used

HSE

All changes implemented are expected to be at least neutral, or preferably beneficial, in their impact on HSE

Organisation

Organisation includes:

any part of a operations or service organisation

companies, government bodies or other body of people aiming to produce a product to service a customer

Desired future state

Desired future state refers to:

the agreed position of where the organisation wants to be as measured by performance indicators

Progress not to plan

Progress not to plan includes:

both progress which falls short of plan and which exceeds plan

Improvements

Improvements include:

the use of different or additional tools

the application of the current tools in use in a different way

a change of emphasis from ‘tools’ to an accepted part of the organisation’s culture

Manager

Manager may include:

any person who may have either a permanent or an ad hoc role in facilitating the function of multiple teams in a workplace, departments or entire organisations


Sectors

Unit sector

Competitive systems and practices


Employability Skills

This unit contains employability skills.


Licensing Information

Not applicable.