The purpose of this qualification is to prepare a learner to operate as a Production Supervisor. A Production Supervisor - plans, organises, controls, leads, coordinates, and reviews the production operations of an organisation.
The qualifying learner will be able to manage physical and human resources in production or manufacturing processes. The duties may include managing first-line supervisors, such as:
- Foremen.
- Team leaders.
- Charge-hands.
- Tradesmen.
- Craftsmen.
- Process control technician.
- Machine operators.
- Assemblers.
- Labourers and other workers.
The duties cover maintenance, monitoring and control of occupational health and safety, legal compliance, quality assurance, troubleshooting and problem-solving.
A Production Supervisor is required to schedule and oversee production activities and resources for efficiency and continuous improvement. He/she also plays a key role in training and development, including on-the-job-training and development.
A qualified learner will be able to:
- Plan, organise, control, lead, coordinate, and review production operations of a unit, including physical and human resources.
- Plan, organise, control, lead, coordinate and review production operations of an organisation, which will have more than one unit, including physical and human resources.
Rationale:
The Occupational Certificate: Production Supervisor reflects the needs of the manufacturing and production sectors, as represented by employers, employees and training providers, for learners to develop the management skills and competencies to become Production Supervisors.
Production Supervisors work across a wide range of industries in the production and manufacturing sectors. The qualification is in a generic format and contextualised in the manufacturing, mining, chemical, energy, water, food and beverage sectors. The qualification is portable across a wide range of sectors as the skills and competencies are generic.
The qualification takes into account that small and medium organisations may need one Production Supervisor as they have only one production/manufacturing unit. Large organisations have multiple units, with several Production Supervisors.
Expert practitioners from a range of sectors within the manufacturing and production fields participated in the development of this qualification.
Typically, learners work already in a technical or operational capacity in manufacturing or production. This qualification will provide the learner with the necessary supervisory and management skills and competencies to continue the learning pathway to progress vertically in any production or manufacturing environment. It will, therefore, be an essential qualification for upward mobility in any organisation in the sector.
Typically, employees, who are technically and operationally competent, lack the necessary management knowledge, skills and experience to progress to supervision and management levels in an organisation. This qualification will be essential to any person aspiring to progress in his chosen field. The benefit, to the economy and the country in general, is that the qualification will provide the learner with the necessary learning pathway, essential training and development to progress in an organisation.
This qualification provides the learner with the necessary knowledge, skills, competency and work experience to work as a Production Supervisor.
NQF Level 04
NQF Level 05
