Apprenticeship training course

Process industry manufacturing technician (level 3)

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Information about Process industry manufacturing technician (level 3)

Apply a process or processes to create products to a specification.

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

  Knowledge

  • Science process manufacturing sector awareness: range of products, manufacturing environments, types of customers.
  • Role and limits of responsibility. Escalation procedures. Impact of operators’ competence on product quality. Change control requirement.
  • Health and safety regulations, standards, and guidance: Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH), Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (DSEAR), Electrical safety and compliance, Fire safety, Health and Safety at Work Act – responsibilities, incident and near miss reporting and investigation, Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER), Legionella, Lone working, Management of health and safety at work, Manual handling, Noise regulation, Permits to work, Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER), Safety signage and purpose, Slips trips and falls, The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR), Working in confined spaces, and Working at height.
  • Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) regulation and impact on workplaces.
  • Science process manufacturing safety hazards – risks they pose and their management: temperature, pressure, and vapours. Risk assessment and safe systems of work. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) requirements.
  • Emergency procedures.
  • Health and safety management systems; key performance indicators (KPIs) and learning from incidents.
  • Environmental hazards that can arise from process. Hierarchy of control.
  • Environmental management systems standard. Environmental Protection Act. Environmental signage and notices.
  • Principles of sustainability and circular economy. Resource (energy, water, and waste) efficiency and reuse of materials. Principles of control and management of emissions and waste.
  • Planning, prioritising, and time management techniques.
  • Continuous and batch techniques. Production requirements: product specification, processing specification, rate of production. Material safety data sheet, product labelling and product codes; the importance of identifying non-conforming materials and products. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). Stock control. Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP).
  • Standard operating procedures (SOP) - what they are and why they are important.
  • Standard operating conditions (SOC) - what they are and why they are important.
  • Documentation requirements: documentation control, auditable records.
  • Main factors influencing quality assurance in industrial process industries. Quality standards.
  • Principles of laboratory quality procedures: calibration requirements for quality control, representative sampling, and common methods of analysis.
  • How customer feedback can be used to assess quality performance. Purpose of audits. Non-conformance reports (NCR). Corrective Action Preventive Action (CAPA).
  • Common faults and causes in processing: flow, blockages, instrumentation failures, seals and human factors.
  • Problem solving and fault-finding techniques: root cause analysis, 5-Whys.
  • Continuous improvement (CI) systems and techniques.
  • Different types of maintenance activities: preventative and reactive.
  • Requirements for shutting down and preparing for maintenance.
  • Requirements for bringing equipment back from maintenance.
  • Purpose and operation of process industry equipment.
  • Process control systems and their constituent components.
  • Uses of water in and around the plant. Types of water: raw, treated, demineralized; uses, differences, and composition. Water purification requirements and methods.
  • Common process manufacturing principles: distillation, phase separation, crystallisation, and drying.
  • The thermal and flow properties of solids, liquids, and gases.
  • The structure of atoms, elements, and compounds - chemical symbols that represent them.
  • Fundamental scientific laws to the construction and use of balanced chemical equations.
  • Solutions, solubility, and solubility curves.
  • The application and importance of electrochemical principles.
  • The structure, classification, and properties of carbon compounds and polymers.
  • The structure and properties of elements, mixtures, compounds, crystals, and alloys.
  • The importance of chemical equilibrium and energy changes in reactions involved in manufacturing processes.
  • Electrochemical principles - electrolysis and galvanic corrosion, their applications and importance.
  • Numerical approximations and unit conversion tables. Areas, volumes, and pressure and flow rates calculations. Statistical data.
  • Conventions for drawings and graphical information.
  • Information and digital technology to support process industry operations. Cyber security requirements.
  • General data protection regulation (GDPR).
  • Written communication techniques. Technical report writing techniques.
  • Verbal communication techniques.
  • Principles of team working. Principles of equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace.

  Skills

  • Review instructions or information to understand the task.
  • Plan tasks. Identify and organise resources with consideration for safety, environmental impact, quality, and cost.
  • Identify hazards and risks in the workplace and personal safety and mitigation measures.
  • Apply health, safety, and environmental procedures in compliance with regulations, standards, and guidance.
  • Follow environment emergency procedures. For example, make area safe, evacuate.
  • Apply sustainability principles for example, minimising waste.
  • Apply standard operating procedures (SOPs).
  • Check equipment.
  • Select, check, and prepare raw materials for process for example, weighing, measuring, control and blending, conditioning, dissolving, and sanitisation.
  • Set and adjust processing parameters such as temperature, pressure, speed or time, distance.
  • Monitor process for example, take readings and conduct walk-arounds.
  • Conduct the control of product streams to maintain specifics.
  • Apply quality assurance procedures. For example, density checks, contaminant check, and take samples for laboratory testing.
  • Apply intermediate or post-manufacturing procedure for example, labelling, packing, storage, visual inspection, discharge.
  • Manage waste streams.
  • Clean equipment for example, boil-outs, steam-outs, bake-outs, steam in place SIP, clean in place (CIP).
  • Conduct calculations for example, conversations, tare weight, charge weights, yield calculations.
  • Store tools and equipment.
  • Identify equipment for handover.
  • Apply signage and access restriction measures.
  • Shut down the process and equipment.
  • Isolate process and systems.
  • Complete isolation checks.
  • Empty equipment for example, drain, purge, vent, and de-pressure.
  • Purge, fill, pressurise and leak test.
  • Complete post maintenance equipment checks.
  • Line-up equipment.
  • Connect service connections such as water, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic for chemical or petrochemical processing.
  • De-isolate process, mechanical and electrical systems.
  • Complete pre-start up checks.
  • Start-up plant and equipment.
  • Re-start process.
  • Record or enter information - paper based or electronic.
  • Interpret data for example, process data, quality control and test procedure data.
  • Interpret drawings and graphs.
  • Identify issues for example, defects, deviations, process variance, and maintenance requirements.
  • Escalate issues outside limits of responsibility.
  • Apply problem solving and fault-finding techniques.
  • Apply continuous improvement techniques. Make a suggestion for improvement.
  • Use information and digital technology for example, management information systems, human machine interfaces, word processing, spreadsheet, email, virtual learning platforms, document sharing platforms. Comply with cyber security requirements.
  • Produce written documents for example, handover notes or emails, non-conformances, design change requests.
  • Communicate with others verbally for example, colleagues and stakeholders.
  • Apply team working principles.
  • Plan how to meet personal development needs. Carry out and record planned and unplanned learning and development (CPD) activities.

  Behaviours

  • Prioritise health, safety, and environment.
  • Consider sustainability when using resources and carrying out processes.
  • Team-focus to meet work goals including support for equality, diversity and inclusion.
  • Take responsibility for the quality of their own work.
  • Respond and adapt to work demands.
  • Committed to continued professional development.
• Apprenticeship category (sector): Engineering and manufacturing
• Qualification level: 3; Equal to A level
• Course duration: 36 months
• Maximum funding: £24,000 ; Maximum government funding for ; apprenticeship training and assessment costs.
• Job titles include:
  • Chemical process technician
  • Chemical production technician
  • Oil and gas process technician
  • Petrochemical process technician
  • Plant technician
  • Process industry technician
  • Process manufacturing technician
  • Process technician
  • Production technician
  • Hydrogen production technician

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