Operations Specialist Occupation

Students will be able to analyze capacity, demand, equipment, inventory, staffing, and budget reports. They be able to compose budgets for staffing, materials, and funding resources. They will gain a more in depth understanding of how to schedule staff, project tasks, procurement needs, and financial resource needs. Students will explain how production plans are built, including tools for prioritization and contingency planning. Students will learn best practices related to scheduling, estimating costs, forecasting workload, planning resource use, setting department goals, and monitoring progress. They will engage in effective debriefing communication to maintain continuous improvement of processes.

Apprentices are introduced to basic communication concepts relating to the workplace. Concepts include theory and skills practice related to interpersonal, intercultural, and production team communications, technical writing and business communications, phone and email etiquette, and conflict management. Students will create a professional portfolio that includes a resume, examples of skills, accomplishments, and samples of work.

In this course, students will be able to relate LEAN Six Sigma concepts to production objectives. They will identify waste within the value stream and demonstrate the ability to effectively analyze and present data to co-workers and stakeholders. They will define and apply team leadership tools to aid in process improvement. Students will collect and process customer or internal stakeholder input/requirements and identify key metrics for measuring success. Students will define the DMAIC process and effectively use tools and concepts associated with each phase of the DMAIC process. Finally, they'll employ Lean Six Sigma skills in process improvement projects.

In this course, students will develop tools to identify and communicate the evolving purpose of their organization. They will be able to provide guidelines to develop team unity towards that purpose. Students will adopt skills to empower team members and lead them to personal and professional growth. They will use planning tools to help manage change and work toward continued positive results. Students will explain and practice leadership best practices, including mentorship, creating specific and evolving goals, creating a work culture aligned for success, motivation techniques, and conflict resolution. This course introduces interpersonal communication skills critical to leaders, including running effective and productive meetings, developing active listening skills, contributing to group decision making, and strategies for presenting to a hostile audience.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) refers to a method or type of software that organizations use to manage day-to-day activities. In this course, students will explore ways that ERP is used to efficiently manage demand and procurement. They will explain how ERP is used to quantify resource use, and better plan production jobs and product delivery. Students will use ERP to create invoices to send directly to customers or create and transmit import and export documentation required for cross-border shipments. Students will also identify how ERP processes enhance collaboration between businesses and vendors, helping to reduce bottlenecks. Students will explore how ERP use can help target inefficiencies in resource use and improve business outcomes. Finally, students will explain how ERP can help organizations adapt during business downturns.

Students will build on their knowledge of project management and explore techniques for getting projects back on track. They will focus on assigning project roles and responsibilities, problem solving, and risk management. Students will gain an understanding of tools and processes to help complete project on time and within operation production goals. This course will include some real examples of project management challenges being experienced by their classmate and the class will explore ideas to address those challenges. Students will recognize the importance of their roles as mentors to teach their teams problem solving skills. They will explore the concept of root cause analysis for identifying problems. They will practice ways to prioritize, plan, and efficiently solve problems once they have been identified. Students will be introduced to several methods of problem solving and explore one in detail.