Food and drink employers are being asked to give their views on a new qualification options designed to drive improvements in productivity and efficiency in the workplace.
Content for an innovative new Achieving Food Manufacturing Excellence qualification has been created by Improve, in partnership with employers. It is one of the food and drink sector skills council’s new family of work-based Improve Proficiency Qualifications (IPQs), which are being developed for people employed in the food and drink industry in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
For food and drink industry employees in Scotland, Improve has also drafted content for two new pathways, at Levels 2 and 3, within the Scottish Vocational Qualification in Food Manufacture.
Derek Williams, Improve’s development director, said: “These new qualification options will be innovative in the way that they are linked to continuous improvement and the constant drive to boost performance in all areas of food and drink manufacturing. Companies are always looking to move forward and better their performance at all levels and this qualification can help achieve that.
“This is about taking a holistic view of what is required for a company to improve. These are business critical qualifications and are powerful qualifications in respect of improving the performance of individuals at whatever level they work at or whatever job they have within a company.”
The Achieving Food Manufacturing Excellence IPQ is made up of two components. Firstly, it looks at strategy, leadership and management, with a particular focus on managing and making change effective in a way that benefits the company. Secondly, it looks at tried and tested tools and techniques taken from approaches such as lean manufacturing and sustainable business strategy and focuses on their application in food and drink.
IPQs are structured around a system of units of assessment, with each individual unit being based on the skills and knowledge needed to carry out a particular job role. Learners will earn and accumulate credits for units of assessment completed as they work towards a full qualification, which will be accredited on the Qualifications and Credit Framework.
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