Our Apprentices thrive in the Improvement Technician Programme
Our apprentices are currently enrolled in the Level 3 Improvement Technician Programme, where they are honing their skills to become adept Improvement Technicians.
As Improvement Technicians, they play a vital role in operational teams, addressing and resolving problems to enhance overall performance. Their responsibilities include engaging team members in identifying improvement opportunities, initiating and facilitating improvement activities, and providing local expertise in business improvement methods and tools.
The programme focuses on developing key skills, including compliance with organisational controls and statutory regulations, effective communication of step-up progress, project management, and the application of principles and methods for structured improvement.
Skills covered in the programme
- Compliance: Adherence to organisational controls and statutory regulations.
- Communication: Effectively sharing improvement progress through appropriate reporting.
- Project Management: Planning, managing, and implementing improvement activities, including risk management and business case development.
- Principles and Methods: Utilising structured methods and appropriate improvement tools.
- Problem Definition: Developing problem/opportunity statements supported by validated data.
- Voice of the Customer: Applying techniques to identify customer requirements and translating them into metrics.
- Lean Tools: Implementing techniques such as waste elimination, 5S methodology, kaizen, and more.
- Data Acquisition and Analysis: Developing data collection plans, using basic statistics, and applying statistical methods for analysis.
- Root Cause Analysis: Employing cause and effect diagrams, the 5 Whys technique, and graphical analysis.
- Identification and Prioritisation: Recognising, identifying, and prioritising improvement solutions.
- Benchmarking: Understanding the value of sharing best practices.
- Sustainability and Control: Creating control and reaction plans with detection measures, and identifying opportunities to embed changes for long-term benefits.
Our apprentices are making significant progress in the programme, receiving positive feedback during monthly progress reviews. Their readiness to join the MPM Continuous Improvement Team marks a major milestone. Next Gen Makers influence has prompted the development of a comprehensive Framework for Apprentice Training and Development, aligned with Next Gen Standards.
This evolving Framework encompasses various aspects, including recruitment, induction, policy deployment, preparation and evaluation of training and development, skills training processes, apprentice performance reviews, and personal development planning, as well as apprentice mentoring.
As our apprentices continue to flourish, our focus remains on leveraging their enthusiasm and cultivating the knowledge and skills they acquire in the program.
