Apprenticeship training course

Improvement technician (level 3)

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Information about Improvement technician (level 3)

Responsible for delivery and coaching of improvement activity within an area of responsibility.

• Knowledge, skills and behaviours:
  View knowledge, skills and behaviours

  Knowledge

  • Compliance: Legislative and customer compliance requirements including environment and health and safety
  • Team formation & leadership: Improvement team roles and responsibilities in a change environment
  • Self-development: Different sources for knowledge development
  • Project management: Project charter, Gantt chart, reporting documentation, Red Amber Green (RAG) status, communication (verbal and non-verbal channels) and implementation plans
  • Change management: Roles of the manager and leader within change. Influencing, reinforcement and coaching principles
  • Principles & methods: Six Sigma principles per ISO13053 (International Organisation for Standardisation), interim containment actions, Lean principles
  • Project selection & scope: Selection matrix, scoping tree
  • Problem definition: Exploratory data analysis, data collection planning, problem and goal statements
  • Process mapping & analysis: Supplier Input Process Output Customer (SIPOC), process mapping, value and waste analysis, performance metrics - discrete data
  • Data acquisition for analysis: Data stratification, sampling theory, data types, variation types and sources, data collection tools, operational definition and principles of measurement error
  • Basic statistics & measures: Control charts - discrete data
  • Process capability & performance: Capability analysis - continuous data
  • Root cause analysis: Histograms
  • Experimentation: Active analysis versus one factor at a time, Plan Do Check Act
  • Identification & prioritisation: Brainstorming, selection criteria
  • Sustainability & control: Process

  Skills

  • Compliance: Work in accordance with organisational controls and statutory regulations
  • Communication: Share improvement progress through appropriate reporting
  • Project management: Plan, manage and implement improvement activities. Identify and support management of risks. Develop the business case for improvement activity and implementation
  • Change management: Engage through communications. Reinforce – positively and negatively. Effectively coach peers
  • Principles and methods: Use a structured method and appropriate improvement tools engaging with subject matter experts to deliver business benefits
  • Project selection and Scoping: Identify and scope improvement projects and establish clear measurable objectives
  • Problem definition: Develop a problem/opportunity statement supported by validated data
  • Voice of the customer: Apply techniques to identify customers, their requirements and translate these to metrics
  • Process mapping & analysis: Apply process mapping tools to visualise processes, analyse process performance establishing key insights for performance improvement
  • Lean tools: Apply techniques such as identification and removal of 8 wastes, 5S (Sort, Shine, Set, Standardise, Sustain), standard work, kaizen, visual displays and controls, error proofing, preventative maintenance
  • Data acquisition for analysis: Develop data collection plan and validated measurement processes to understand performance
  • Basic statistics & measures: Establish patterns and trends in data over time using tally, pie, run/trend and pareto charts
  • Data analysis-statistical methods: Identify common and special cause variation
  • Process capability & performance: Analyse product/process performance using good quality data
  • Root cause analysis: Use cause and effect diagrams, technique of 5 whys and graphical analysis to understand and verify root causes
  • Identification & prioritisation: Identify and prioritise improvement solutions
  • Benchmarking: Recognise the value of sharing best practice
  • Sustainability & control: Create control and reaction plans with detection measures, identify opportunities to embed changes to leverage benefit to the business.

  Behaviours

  • Drive for results: Clear commitment for identifying opportunities and delivering improvements, pays attention to detail
  • Team-working: Helps when asked, works effectively in a diverse team, considers impact of own actions on others, motivates peers
  • Professionalism: Acts in a moral, legal and socially appropriate manner, aligns behaviours to the organisations values, trusted to working on own when appropriate
  • Continuous development: Acts upon feedback, reflects on performance and has a desire for learning
  • Safe working: Ensures safety of self and others, challenges safety#
• Apprenticeship category (sector): Business and administration
• Qualification level: 3; Equal to A level
• Course duration: 14 months
• Maximum funding: £4,000 ; Maximum government funding for ; apprenticeship training and assessment costs.
• Job titles include:
  • Business Improvement Co-ordinator
  • Continuous Improvement Executive
  • Process Technician
  • Operational Excellence/Lean Engineer
  • Lean Six Sigma Yellow belt and Quality Control Analyst
  • Environmental Compliance Technician
  • Environmental Construction Oversight
  • Environmental Health And Safety Inspector
  • Transportation Planner
  • Transportation sustainability improvement planner
  • Environmental improvement compliance technician
  • Environmental improvement health and safety inspector

View more information about Improvement technician (level 3) from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.