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:

acquire a value stream map for current products and processes

analyse process

perform required calculations to determine flow rate and variability

correctly identify pacemaker process

balance the work

monitor implementation of a levelled pull system and suggest 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 oracy, language and literacy capacity of the candidate and the work being performed.

Required skills

Required skills include:

identifying and analysing production and other processes to identify variation from specifications

solving problems to determine causes of variations to root cause

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

undertaking self-directed problem solving and decision-making on issues of a broad and/or highly specialised nature and in a wide variety of contexts

analysing long or critical process steps and determine if they are pacemaker step

setting and standardising operational processes around the requirements of the pacemaker process

planning and organising implementation of a levelled pull production system

documenting process steps

performing calculations and interpreting data, including charts and diagrams related to establishing rate of flow and variation in process steps

Required knowledge

Required knowledge includes:

technical and regulatory limits that must be adhered to in operations

processing requirements of products or services offered by the organisation

capabilities of equipment

capabilities and skills of the workforce

production planning techniques

methods of calculating rates of demand and flow of work (e.g. takt and pitch)

techniques for achieving a smooth and consistent flow of work, such as:

identifying pacemaker process

levelling the flow of work

balancing the allocation of resources

balancing the allocation of work

Just in Time (JIT)

Heijunka boxes

visual displays

relationship of level of inventory to efficiency and waste

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

Product

Product includes:

individual products and product groups/families

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

Pacemaker

Pacemaker processes is that process which sets the pace for the flow of operations/work through the enterprise. Pacemaker processes may include, but are not limited to:

process steps which are significantly longer than other production stages

critical technical or quality steps in the production process

Takt time

Takt time is the time required to complete one job cycle if the customer’s time and volume expectations are to be met, i.e. the available time divided by the number of units required, and so may include, but is not limited to:

time per piece where applied to piece work

time per tonne or litre when applied to bulk product

time per work item when applied to an office or service environment

deadlines required to meet delivery dates when applied to project work

Pitch

Pitch is the takt time averaged over a defined period and with available resources giving the rate of flow required to meet customer demand

Balance work

Balance work means balancing:

time of production

effort required by workforce and equipment

work organisation

job design

quality considerations

waste and other cost considerations between stations/equipment/processes to achieve levelled pull within allowable time per product

Balance work consideration also means:

undertaking adequate consultation with stakeholders

meeting occupational health and safety (OHS) and environmental requirements

any other regulatory and legislative requirements