Sondor believes in continuous improvement, empowering their staff, and strives to enable them to develop their capabilities and reach their potential through appropriate training. With this in mind, they signed up staff members to complete ODI’s NQF3 in Production Technology (Competitive Operations) learnership, facilitated by Gerald McKinnon.

The qualifying learners will be able to:

• Perform production maintenance activities, and report irregularities within organisational structures.
• Apply the fundamental concepts, theories, and techniques of production systems.
• Apply the fundamental concepts relating to production planning, scheduling, and control.
• Apply quality control and quality assurance practices for efficient and effective production processes.
• Communicate effectively as a member of a team.

To read more about this learnership, click here.

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Investing in their staff by creating training and development opportunities allow staff members to acquire new skills, sharpen existing ones, perform better, and increase productivity.

Wispeco Stockists: Conways, Sheerline, Almex & RF Metals, believe in an informed, equipped and skilled workforce.

Respective staff members from the above-mentioned companies completed ODI’s national qualifications:

• NQF 2 National Certificate in Production Technology

• NQF 3 in General Management

• NQF4 Process Manufacturing

• NQF5 Productivity

It was a proud moment for management [Jacques van der Westhuyzen (Chief Operations Director), Ralph Ryan (Director General Manager), Jillian Adams (General Manager), Christina Ogle (General Manager) & Nicky Titus (Operations Manager)], and staff alike at the recent awards ceremony that took place in Cape Town. Hard work and commitment paid off.

To view the ODI/Wispeco Aluminium Cape Town 2019 Awards Ceremony, click here.

The post ODI/Wispeco Stockists Cape Town 2023 Awards Ceremony appeared first on ODI.

• produce outstanding results,
• consistently delivering high-quality work and
• making a significant impact on the organisation.

One of the key components of a high-performance team is trust. Members of the team must trust each other to communicate openly, share ideas, and provide constructive feedback. This trust fosters an environment of collaboration and mutual respect, allowing team members to work together effectively.

Another important factor is clear goals and objectives. Teams must have a shared understanding of what they are trying to achieve, and how their individual contributions fit into the larger picture. This clarity of purpose motivates team members to work together towards a common goal and helps to avoid confusion and misunderstandings.

Effective communication is also crucial to the success of a high-performance team. Team members must be able to communicate their ideas, concerns, and feedback in an open and respectful manner. This not only helps to build trust but also ensures that everyone is working towards a common goal.

High-performance teams require leadership that is both visionary and supportive. Leaders must have a clear understanding of their team’s strengths and weaknesses, and must be able to coach and motivate team members to achieve their full potential. They must also provide the resources and support necessary to help the team.

In addition a supportive team dynamic is also crucial in fostering high-performance teams. Team dynamics refer to the patterns of behavior, communication, and relationships among team members. A positive team dynamic can greatly enhance team performance by promoting a sense of unity and shared purpose.

One aspect of supportive team dynamics is active participation by all team members. Teams perform best when everyone is engaged and contributing to the team’s goals. This can be achieved through regular team meetings and open forums where all team members can voice their opinions and provide feedback.

Another key aspect is a sense of belonging and inclusiveness. Teams work best when everyone feels valued and included, regardless of their role or background. A team culture that emphasizes

• collaboration,
• respect, and
• diversity

can help foster a positive dynamic and enhance team performance.

Moreover, high-performance teams also benefit from regular opportunities for team-building and relationship-building activities. These activities can range from team-bonding events to joint problem-solving exercises. By strengthening relationships among team members, teams can build a strong foundation of

• trust,

• respect, and

• collaboration

that will help them work together more effectively.

In summary, supportive team dynamics play a critical role in high-performance teams. By promoting active participation, a sense of belonging and inclusiveness, and regular opportunities for team-building, organisations can create teams that are not only effective but also enjoyable to be a part of.

ODI’s NQF3 National Certificate in Management (Supervision for Energised WorkTeams) aims at equipping every first-line manager with the essential knowledge and skills necessary to:

• Develop, lead and inspire productive workplace teams.
• Ensure that all team members are developed to their full potential.

The manager of the first-line manager needs to coach his/her first-line managers, and is, as such, involved in the programme. A simple-to-use benchmarking system forms the basis for ongoing coaching and development. To read more about this learnership, click here.

Author: Maryke Bergh: Senior Manager: Learning & Development

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This is an opportunity for learners to demonstrate integrative understanding and application of concepts learned during the learnership. Learners who have arrived at this point are now better equipped to make contributions to operations excellence.

The mentors of the learners, as well as any other stakeholders in management are invited to attend and in so-doing show their appreciation and support.

The NQF3 Supervisory Learnership, amongst others, in module 6, covers effective presentations in great detail, starting with the 3P’:

• Plan,

• Prepare,

• Practice.

Also included are points that you need to think about while preparing, e.g.

• Who am I going to present to?

• What is the purpose of my presentation?

• What am I going to talk about?

• How will I present it?

• How large is my audience?

• How much do they know about the subject of the presentation?

• What is their general attitude likely to be, e.g. will they be interested, indifferent, skeptical, friendly, curious?

The structure of your presentation is also explained, which includes an introduction, body and conclusion. In your introduction you have to get the audience’s attention and stimulate interest. Points to consider for your introduction include welcoming the audience, identifying yourself; name, job, background, and why you are qualified to speak about the topic of your presentations, the agenda with time frames, structure, breaks, etc. and ground rules; when to ask questions, etc.

On a more personal note, I normally tell my learners that they should treat their presentation as an interview, in other words dress for success, prepare thoroughly, pay attention to the cosmetics of their presentations, practice, practice, practice, because you never know who will come and attend and it’s an opportunity for you to show a different side of yourself than the one that people see on a regular day; basically an opportunity to shine!

I think every facilitator will agree that from the moment that you mention the final presentation, usually after a problem-solving module, you can see the stress and anxiety levels increasing. Learners will come up to you and tell you that they’ve never done it before, that they won’t be able to do it, etc. As a facilitator, you have to then put their minds at ease by telling them that it’s part of the learning and that they should take confidence in the fact that they will be discussing elements from their own work areas and that they are the experts thereof.

This moment will always remind me of my own first experience and I would normally share it with them.

I still remember it, as if it happened yesterday. I started working for De Beers Group of Companies in 1999 as an ABET Educator, teaching Math and English to voluntary members of the workforce. It was the first project of its kind and I would be the first facilitator, so basically no-one to show me the ropes. Wanting to do my best, I organised my own awareness campaigns.

Part of the awareness plan, was to do a presentation at the monthly business lunch. My anxiety levels were rising exponentially, but the bottom-line was to pull myself together, put together a few slides with important information on them, and have at least three dry-runs. My manager at the time, Annamie Engelbrecht, and some of my other team-mates in training and development, would listen, give feedback and I would make changes accordingly.

I remember Annemie telling me to take along a container to dish my food in, as a take-away. At the time I didn’t understand why she said that, so I shrugged my shoulders, (in my mind, of course) and didn’t take the container along, obviously to my regret, but which I would only realise when it was too late.

As Murphy’s law would have it; my presentation was directly after lunch. Now, just to give a bit of context, the business lunch was attended by all managers, from the front-line leaders, to the middle-managers, to senior management, including the General Manager, a very big room full of people who were all above my level; my nerves, my nerves…

So there I was, feeling like a lamb on its way to the slaughterhouse, with a massive hole in my stomach, and I couldn’t eat! And then the penny dropped; I should’ve brought the food container, but it was too late and I couldn’t stomach a single piece of food and let me tell you, at these events the tables were laid.

And so, after lunch, they called my name and I took to the podium. I will tell my learners that even your own voice will sound strange to you in that moment, another reason why you should practice. Everyone who has done it before, though, will know that from the minute you finish your first sentence, the nerves will start settling somewhat and before you know it, your presentation will be over. I even answered a few questions from the floor, which, to this day, I can’t remember what they were.

After that, the usual “hey, you’ve done well” or “hey, I didn’t know you could speak so eloquently”, basically washed over me. I was just mad at myself for missing all of that glorious food☺

I know that when you’re in a panicked state, not much sinks in, but you hope nonetheless that what you share with the learners will somehow help to soothe the nerves, but I think that we can all agree that in the end, the learners step up and deliver.

Final presentations are a beautiful and meaningful way of ending off any development programme and what a rewarding moment it is when every learner from A to Z walks up to the “podium” and shine bright like a diamond.

Author: Valery Hansen

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ODI’s Marni de Witt facilitated this group of CTP learners.

Based in Cape Town, CTP Printers are award winning specialists in the production of books, diaries, magazines, commercial products and newspapers. With state-of-the-art print and finishing technology and a skilled team to support it, CTP continues to provide their clients with products of the highest quality.

This qualification consists of one Overview Module, to create a common vision, and 9 practical Modules, to make operations more competitive.

The post CTP NQF3: Production Technology learnership with Marni de Witt appeared first on ODI.

Angela writes:

“My first exposure to the programme came early on in 2019 when I started peripherally assisting with the on-lining of this programme. Once it was completed and open for registration I signed up as quickly as I could. In the first virtual support session I remember asking some really ‘interesting’ questions, the answers to which became part and parcel of the everyday use of the course, but at that time I was still on track for the paper qualification.

At the start of 2021 I was invited to collaborate in the roll-out of the Operations Excellence programme on-site at a plant in Port Elizabeth. I was asked to assist in the facilitation and assessment of the NQF3 (Supervision for Energised Workteams) programme. The Port Elizabeth Operations Excellence programme involved approximately 13 NQF3 learners and approximately 8 NQF5 National Certificate in Productivity, learners. At that time, I was still enrolled – but hadn’t really progressed in the NQF5 blended learning programme.

I started attending the NQF5 discussion sessions and, more importantly, I was included in all of the plant inspections and Gemba walks & checks. This is where I started to get insight as to how little I knew and understood. Soon, some of the terminology from the NQF5 programme and the factory jargon started coming to life for me – including, and importantly, the concept of the Gemba walk. I did have a lot of questions, but fortunately I also had my NQF5 class and an excellent mentor to assist me.

The NQF5 and the NQF3 roll-outs were scheduled to run in parallel and both were offered from the same training venue and plant. The NQF5 class being the senior supervisors to the supervisors, first-line managers etc., the majority of whom were enrolled in the NQF3.

Initially, I was very nervous about committing my thoughts and understanding to paper, in the workplace activities because I realised how much of an outsider I was to the actual operations excellence programme. However, I realised that to get the best understanding of the whole process I had to work through it, so that I would be better able to reflect and use all of the learning in each situation.

One of the things that worked out to be very useful or was intentionally designed to be very useful, was that quite a lot of the contents of the NQF3 and the NQF5 complemented one other, so what I was learning in NQF5, I was teaching – at a different level – in the NQF3 programme. For instance, initially I was going to work with some of the other members of the NQF5 to create and be part of their mini-business, however, at the NQF3 level the training department needed to create its own mini-business, and so I became a member of the training department’s mini-business. We had to create our mini-business’s vision, mission, values etc and for our vision, we settled on:

“We will be a centre of Excellence for Learning and Development for the footwear industry, aiming to increase the productivity and sustainability of South African products and footwear producers.“

Ultimately this turned out to be very ironic – but we’ll get to that later.

One of the things that I hear often, which I sure most facilitators hear is: “Are the bosses being told this?” – and in this roll-out I could answer in the affirmative, and even show the NQF3 learners the page reference!

At the end of last year, I was encouraged to push past the rest of my group to finish ahead of schedule. This, of course, had its pros and cons but I felt that by then I had sufficient real-life information to do the course some justice. I did my final FISA presentation at the end of last year.

Some of the areas that have inspired me the most are:

• When my NQF3 delegates learnt about the leadership element of courage, and they realised that they have an obligation to stand up for their teams.
• My NQF3 learners saying that they can see the NQF5 learners trying to make the changes, the physical ones to the plant are relatively the easy ones in comparison to the personal changes being undertaken. The fact that parties have realised that they need to act differently is inspiring.
• The learner who tried to get out of the course for at least the first 3 modules, is now one of the trail blazers in handing in work on time, or ahead of time.
• My NQF3 learners saying that at the start of the training they couldn’t understand why they should be doing this training and why they needed to be involved – they have done things like this for the last 28 years, why change now, and now they are seeing the changes and enthusing about the why change now and showing their teams and new recruits the importance of the new ways.
• The physical changes made at the plant – and the learners asking why it took so long to make these obviously beneficial changes.
• The vision that we set as the vision for the training department was, as set out above, to be “a centre of Excellence for Learning and Development for the footwear industry”. Although this was displayed on our mini-business dashboard, I made mention of it in my FISA presentation, and I was surprised when I went to the plant the next time and found that they had taken the vision to hand and re-designed the storage area into an extended classroom, including such details in the plans to adjust the plant’s air conditioners to cool the room in summer and reverse them to warm it in winter, so that it could become a true ‘centre of excellence’.

Initially, the changes, as all change processes are, were resisted and somewhat opposed, but now the changes have a positive infectious effect:

• Where one area gets a model machine, other areas want model machines.
• Where more flow is successfully achieved in one area, other areas want less work-in-progress.

Hopefully it will also be the case that where some see NQF5 & NQF3 qualifications from ODI, others will also want to get those qualifications.”

For many businesses, it is a priority to improve the skills of their employees, and face-to-face classroom training is not always possible. ODI, however, believes that a blended approach, where there is an element of classroom, as well as technology-based learning, is stronger.

To view our online Qualifications and Learnerships index, click here.

The post NQF5 National Certificate in Productivity: An Operations Excellence game changer appeared first on ODI.

The aim of continuous improvement is to increase productivity and create self-sustaining departments as they contribute towards the company’s overall objectives.

Consisting of 9 modules, ODI’s Learnership NQF5 in Productivity, is based on a proven methodology for sustainable business improvement.

Recently, Wispeco Aluminium: Sheerline’s Nicky Titus (Admin & Operations Manager), gave an awe inspiring FISA presentation and captured the lessons learnt whilst completing her 9 modules with ODI.

• Lesson 1:

Any change to the current way of doing things will bring a resistance to change.

• Lesson 2:

The first step to any change process it to get all role-players to understand and accept that there is a need to for change and the benefits of change and who will benefit from it. Everything in-between is a systematic approach of implementing a program of continuous improvement in all areas of the business. Using a SWOT analysis is a good tool to indicate this.

• Lesson 3:

We are hoarders! The 5S’ have systematically put us in motion for a more efficient workplace and highlighted a lot of wastes especially in time & motion.

• Lesson 4:

Not everything needs to be implemented by Management. SGAs and problem-solving techniques have helped a lot in developing a more independent & interdependent workforce. We now are able to dissect an issue quicker and come to a resolution within the group. If is it beyond the authority levels, it comes to Management but now with a list of options for Management to authorise. Before it was left up to Management to research, resolve, and implement. In some cases, a problem leads to an idea to be implemented in another part of the work process!

• Lesson 5: 

We are guilty of wasting our own time! Some processes have made us stop and think about WHY we are doing it. Are we doing it because “that’s the way it’s always been done”? Or is there a valid justification for each step in the process? Some changes were minor, others were big. The Value Stream Map made it simple to see the process as a whole from start to finish. It was a good visualisation aid.

Biggest lesson learnt:

Not forgetting to CELEBRATE the wins/successes/improvements. It is a step in the CAPDo Cycle.

ODI has primary accreditation with the Services Sector Education & Training Authority (decision number 0228). ODI also has further programme approval to provide qualifications, learnerships, and skills programmes through merSETA and SABPP.

The learnerships offered by ODI are carefully selected, to support companies on their journey of Continuous Improvement.

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GWK is proud to be one of the largest and most diverse agri businesses in South Africa. This diversity is reflected in their most important asset, their people.

For this reason, GWK enrolled selected delegates to complete ODI’s NQF2 Production Technology learnership, faciliated by Valery Hansen.

This qualification will equip learners with the necessary skills and knowledge to efficiently perform tasks and activities, in order to continuously improve operational excellence.

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In 2014, four of South Africa’s largest safety footwear manufacturers joined forces to create BBF Safety Group (Pty) Ltd. The merger created the largest safety footwear manufacturer in Africa with more than 250 years of combined experience, producing over 4.5million pairs of footwear per annum.

In 2017, BBF Safety Group transitioned from being a leading safety footwear manufacturer to an integrated workplace safety solutions provider. Today, they offer a full portfolio of head-to-toe personal protective equipment (PPE) and professional occupational health and safety (OHS) services that range from auditing and consulting to training and certification.

As an advocate for the sustainable growth of the South African manufacturing sector, BBF Safety Group constantly strive to procure and produce as much locally as is commercially feasible. Supporting local is crucial in protecting and creating South African jobs, assisting the growth of local businesses and empowering them to succeed on both a local and international scale.

BBF Safety Group enrolled delegates to complete ODI’s NQF5 National Certificate in Productivity learnership, faciliated by George Meiring.

This learnership consists of one Management System Module, to create a common vision, and eight practical Modules, to make operations more competitive. It creates a common language for improvement and utilises detailed checksheets, to depict the levels of improvement towards world class.

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ODI’s Director Gerald McKinnon is facilitating a group of learners from CTP, Sondor Performance Foams and Wispeco Aluminium, completing this learnership.

To read more about this qualification, click here.

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